Colonialism

The word colonialism refers to an extremely wide range of phenomena that are not always easy to compare, much less combine, under the same concept. As a product of the past centuries of European expansion, colonialism is commonly associated with empire building, especially in the nineteenth century. In the most general sense, it involves the establishment of colonial rule, a political structure in which one state controls another state or territory by forming a governing organization that is either a literal extension or a more indirect representative of the colonizing state. While colonialism refers to the formation of such systems of international rule, there is a great deal of variation in the structures of power in such systems. In this general sense, colonialism is part of imperial expansion. No empire can work without the establishment of local and regional governments. Because empires have been part of the history of civilizations for several thousand years, colonialism is certainly not a phenomenon that can be associated with Western capitalism alone.

Although colonialism occurs as a function of empire and imperial expansion, the phenomena described by words of the same family, such as colony and colonization, do not necessarily depend on the existence of imperial rule. Colonization refers to the establishing of settlements in territories beyond those of the society of origin. “Trading colonies,” by contrast, have little to do with political dominance as such. Such colonies are dominated by and dependent on local elites and may pay tribute or taxes. Trading colonization may, however, be part of a process of increasing domination, especially in economic terms; for example, manufactured goods may be exchanged for raw materials or slaves. Such “unequal” exchanges are common in history, from the Anatolian colonies of ancient Assur to those of Portugal. The colonization of North America was yet another form of establishing new populations in a foreign territory as was the forced settlement of prisoners in Australia. There is an important difference between the establishment of colonies in new territories or even in other societies, and a regime of political dominance under which such colonization can, but need not always, occur. It is in conditions of political dominance that colonization can be said to be an expression of colonialism.