Colonialism, Contemporary Effects of

There is no uniform definition of colonialism. Most writers emphasize the physical invasion and [Page 409]domination of a place and its people by an external colonial power for the purposes of resource extraction when describing what they mean by “colonialism.” Imperialism is sometimes used interchangeably with colonialism, although the meanings of these two words differ as the former refers primarily to the concept of control whereas the latter implies that the sending power exports some of its people to the new place as permanent settlers who retain national allegiance to the sending country. The study of the practice of colonizing often focuses on the activities of European powers because of the comprehensive nature of their practice, but certainly the United States, Japan, the Soviet Union, ...