Anticolonialism

Anticolonialism is a broad term used to describe the various resistance movements directed against colonial and imperial powers. The ideas associated with anticolonialism—namely justice, equality, and self-determination—commingled with other ideologies such as nationalism and antiracism.

Colonial rule assumed many different forms. Consequently, anticolonial movements likewise varied, influenced in part by the particularities of foreign rule. Whether the colony was ruled directly, through force, or indirectly would significantly determine how anticolonial movements originated and progressed. In Vietnam, for example, the anticolonial and communist organization known as the Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (League for the Independence of Vietnam [or Vietminh]) waged a lengthy anticolonial war against French colonial rule. Led by Ho Chi Minh, the Vietminh resorted to guerrilla warfare during the 1940s when France attempted to reassert its colonial rule following World War II. Likewise, in the former British and French colonies of Kenya and Algeria, respectively, anticolonial resistance movements used force to restore indigenous rule. For example, the Mau Mau in Kenya conducted a violent campaign to remove British colonists, and the Front de Libération Nationale (National Liberation Front [or FLN]) waged an 8-year war against French forces in Algeria.

Some colonies were spared the violence and destruction of the decolonization process. The former British colony of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) achieved independence relatively smoothly in 1948. The British had acquired the colony from the Dutch in 1815 following the Napoleonic Wars and granted the colony its independence following World War II.

It was not uncommon for simultaneous anticolonial movements to emerge in a single colony. For example, during the late 19th century, the Philippines, long a colony of Spain, was the site of two anticolonial movements. During the late 1800s, there first emerged a reform movement known as the ilustrados. Composed mostly of highly educated and wealthy Filipinos, these individuals, embodied in the Propaganda Movement, demanded moderate administrative and religious reforms such as greater political representation and the curtailment of the excessive power of the friars. Many of the ilustrados were Chinese mestizos who were schooled in Barcelona and Madrid, Spain. Concurrently, there emerged a more radical revolutionary movement that advocated the complete overthrow of the Spanish colonial government. Founded in 1892, the Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Highest and Most Honorable Society of the Sons of the Country [or Katipunan]) was a secret society committed to overthrowing Spanish rule and replacing it with a Filipino nationalist government. The founder of the Katipunan was Andres Bonifacio. Unlike the ilustrados, Bonifacio grew up in poverty and was self-taught. The contrast between Bonifacio and the ilustrados conveys the importance of class and ethnic differences in anticolonial movements.

Anticolonial movements should not be viewed as isolated events; indeed, many anticolonial leaders and organizations learned from other movements. Ania Loomba, an English professor, noted that there were important political and intellectual exchanges between different anticolonial movements and individuals and that even the most rooted and traditional of these was shaped by a syncretic history.

Many of the classic writings associated with anticolonial movements continue to hold salience in contemporary society. For example, the works of Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, and Kwame Nkrumah[Page 12] resonate strongly in current antiglobalization movements. This continuity is testimony to the powerful ideas that embraced anticolonial movements, namely concerns with sovereignty, equality, and social justice.

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