decolonizations
Empires releasing territories
Decolonizations are processes by which colonies gain independence from imperial powers, or more broadly, efforts to dismantle colonial structures and thinking.
The term applies to historical events—the wave of African decolonizations in the 1960s—and to ongoing cultural and institutional efforts: decolonizations of museum collections, decolonizations of university curricula.
Freedom from external control
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- liberationRelease from constraint
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
autonomy · self-governance · freedom · statehood · partition · constitutional reform · postcolonial · nation-building
Act of taking away
- handoverTransfer of control
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
- borderOuter edge or limit
- partitionBarrier separating spaces
homeland · land reform · settler · indigenous · reclamation · territory · occupation · annexation
Capacity to withstand force
- activismDirect effort for reform
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
civil disobedience · Pan-Africanism · nonviolent · solidarity · boycott · strike · protest · mobilization
Adapting to native practices
- language revivalEffort to restore endangered speech
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- identityWho someone is
traditions · renaming · epistemology · curricula · museums · artifacts · oral history · folklore
Government acquisition of industry
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- extractionAct of removing
- reparationsCompensation for historical wrongs
- land redistributionReassigning property among populations
trade · dependency · development · infrastructure · multinational · commodity · labor · plantation
independence
Freedom from external control
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- liberationRelease from constraint
nationalism · autonomy · self-governance · freedom · statehood · partition · constitutional reform · postcolonial · nation-building · treaty
withdrawal
Act of taking away
- handoverTransfer of control
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
- borderOuter edge or limit
partition · homeland · land reform · settler · indigenous · reclamation · territory · occupation · annexation · protectorate
resistance
Capacity to withstand force
- activismDirect effort for reform
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
guerrilla · civil disobedience · Pan-Africanism · nonviolent · solidarity · boycott · strike · protest · mobilization · manifesto
indigenization
Adapting to native practices
- language revivalEffort to restore endangered speech
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
identity · traditions · renaming · epistemology · curricula · museums · artifacts · oral history · folklore · spirituality
nationalization
Government acquisition of industry
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- extractionAct of removing
- reparationsCompensation for historical wrongs
land redistribution · trade · dependency · development · infrastructure · multinational · commodity · labor · plantation · mining
decolonizationscolonizations
Establishing control over territories
annexations · conquests · occupations · subjugations · colonialism
decolonizationsempire-building
Growing one's domain
imperial expansion · colonial expansion · territorial expansion · neocolonialism · imperialism