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Colonialism
For political theorists, colonialism involves the subjugation or domination of one group by another, usually through conquest, settlement, or both, of a territory. It has generally negative associations—with the denial of self-determination, with economic and cultural domination, and even with genocide. The etymology of the term is useful to keep in mind. Its various political senses derive from Roman sources, including colonia, or colony, meaning the settlement or plantation of a human community on foreign soil. But colonus, meaning colonist or farmer, also reminds us of the territorial dimension of colonial settlement. Colonialism is closely related to agricultural and economic development.
Colonialism is often assimilated with imperialism, but the two are not synonymous, however often entwined. Once again, Roman sources are important. The root of ...
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