1 Colonialization and Development
Kishma Singh; Geraldine Cortes; and Celina Rosario Poco
Introduction
According to McMichael & Weber (2022), colonialism is the physical and psychological subordination of one culture by another—a colonial power—by the conquering of territory through military and economic means, as well as the stereotyping of the subjected culture. In short, colonialism is the control by one authority over a dependent region or population. In this section, we ask the reader to consider resources regarding colonialism, discuss the relevance of the resources to the topic, and examine the effects of colonialism on community development. Throughout colonialism, racism and stereotypes on “backwardness” were justified by a devaluation of other cultures and lifestyles. The European colonial system ended around the middle of the twentieth century. Still, its effects continue to be felt today in the form of poverty, racism, and neocolonialism, according to the Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2020). The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2020) also state that the age of modern colonization began in 1492, following the discovery by Europeans of a sea route around the southern coast of Africa in 1488 and the discovery of the Americas—around 1500. There was settler colonialism in Canada as Europeans violently seized Indigenous people’s lands, ultimately drove them from their homes, and eventually vastly outnumbered them. The pre-colonial cultures were skilled at managing and producing resources to meet their material needs.
Moreover, their trading networks, spiritual beliefs, and social organization patterns were distinctive. Indigenous groups in what is now known as North America were vibrant, healthy, and had sophisticated and diversified societies. The pre-colonial African community relied on ancestral ecological wisdom and geocentric cosmology to survive. As described on Wikipedia (2022), contemporary research on colonialism often distinguishes between several overlapping categories of colonialism, including settler colonialism, exploitive colonialism, proxy colonialism, and domestic colonialism.
Community development is adversely affected by colonialism in several ways. The colonial system removes humans’ basic rights, which has a detrimental effect on the development of their communities. Ignoring the long history of pre-colonial living patterns, colonialism is consequently and inherently unsustainable, inadequate for an ongoing community development process. Since social justice was lacking among the colonized, community development was hampered, as the colonized were viewed as deserving no economic, political, or social opportunities or rights. Those colonized lacked adequate access in many ways to necessities such as education, food, shelter, healthcare, etc. Due to power imbalances resulting from race and oppression still exists after colonization. Compared to the colonial oppressed, Europeans have been given more opportunities and access to more services, including better treatment, and their way of life has been considered the “modern way of life.”
“Colonization” a presentation by Kishma Singh; Geraldine Cortes; and Celina Rosario Poco, [YouTube]. For personal, educational purposes only. All rights reserved to copyright holders.
To learn how to access the transcript for this video, see “YouTube transcript instructions (opens a new window)“
How is Colonialism Shown in Current Society?
How does comprehending the past aid us in understanding the present? After decades of colonization, it left a lasting impact on societies, which is reflected from the clothes we wear to the language we speak, where underdeveloped countries or countries with a high poverty rate are exploited for the production of products in economies where their human rights are violated. In the same way, our way of thinking changes, which leads to an increase in racism, exclusion of Indigenous communities, and inequality towards women.
Who’s Affected by Colonialism?
There were many ways in which colonization affected Indigenous people, both externally and internally. Their physical environment was affected by the removal of their lands, which resulted in environmental degradation. There was the destruction of Indigenous homes and the cutting down of trees. It negatively impacted several ecosystems and plants that Indigenous people consider medicinal. Moreover, it negatively affected the mental health of Indigenous people, thereby decreasing their level of well-being and by reducing their self-esteem; causing them to feel ashamed of themselves. Overall, colonialism affects everyone. It influences our views and perceptions of society, race, class, gender, culture, and sexuality.
How Can Indigenous People Get Their Land Back?
Several movements have been launched to help Indigenous people regain control over their lands, an example is the “LandBack” movement. According to Toastie (2022) the LandBack movement seeks to restore Indigenous political control over areas that activist groups and tribal members claim are theirs due to treaty rights. As stated on landback.org, “LANDBACK is more than a campaign, it is a political framework for deepening relationships among organizing movements working for true collective liberation” (para. 3). This framework enables us to visualize a world in which the liberation of Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (POC) coexists. Currently, Indigenous people are claiming their lands in battles across Turtle Island.
What We Learned from Course Readings
Colonialism was a power relationship where the colonizers appropriated and exploited these “unknown lands” and Indigenous people, while justifying it as a civilizing mission. From their point of view, it was a way of improving humankind; a social engineering project. This era brought social inequality, racial hierarchies, and “dependency” since these communities were categorized as undeveloped countries.
As Fernando Martinez, a Cuban politician, said, “Colonialism is the basic and decisive form of the universalization of commercial relations, the individualization of people, and the resistance of all against all” (2022, JGN). A good example of this is the large clothing companies. As we saw in class, many of these companies have their products made in other countries, such as Singapore and Colombia, since the cost of manufacturing and transportation is very low. Although the payment to the workers is not even half of what the garment they made will cost, these processes allow the generation of thousands of jobs worldwide and the continued working and generation of money within the global economy. Likewise, these underdeveloped countries are afraid to go against the developed countries since their income and economic growth, without foreign participation, seem insufficient to support an economy that circulates enough money to meet the basic needs of the people.
Conclusion
Our group has reflected that our work for this activity is to support future students in Community Development programs as well as other current or potential community development workers around the globe. It will help others understand the course text: Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective with perspectives of how we see and understand it; that is our global perspective. This textbook was written from a white male perspective. It would be interesting to have it rewritten from the perspective of people of colour who have lived experiences of their own. These individuals’ lived-experiences more than make up for a more global perspective as compared to just being viewed from a white male perspective.
Our work will be limited, however, by having the perspective of someone from the Community Development Work program. Our viewpoints will differ from those of the Indigenous Studies program, Historical Studies program, and other such programs. Our viewpoints, be them diverse, are still just how we understand the topic by applying Community Development Work principles. There is still a greater need for everyone to be critical of everything we read on the internet, and we should also validate our sources and do research work effectively.
Reflective Questions
- Could you think of any other way colonialism continues to affect our society or your home country?
- How do you think colonization impacts identity through generations?
- Do you have any suggestions on how Indigenous people can get their lands back?
References
Constantino, R., & Constantino, L. R. (2008). Baranganic Societies, A History of the Philippines: From the Spanish Colonization to the Second World War (pp. 24–39). NYU Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv12pnqbf.6
Colonization and identity. The Anarchist Library. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/chris-kortright-colonization-and-identity
Ferriter, D. (2017, March 4). Inglorious Empire: what the British did to India. The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/inglorious-empire-what-the-british-did-to-india-1.2981299
Japanese occupation of the Philippines. (n.d.) Google Arts & Culture. https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/japanese-occupation-of-the-philippines/m04y5fzp?hl=enKortright, C. (2003, January 1).
Layne, J. (2021, June 1). 21 important pros and cons of colonialism 2022 – Ablison Energy. Ablison. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.ablison.com/pros-and-cons-of-colonialism/
Magdoff, H. (2022, November 13). Western colonialism. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Western-colonialism
NDN Collective. (n.d.). Landback. Landback. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://landback.org/
Oaster, B. (2022, August 22). Questions about the LandBack movement, answered. High Country News. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.9/indigenous-affairs-social-justice-questions-about-the-landback-movement-answered
Ross, E. (2019, October 9). The past is still present: Why colonialism deserves better coverage. The Correspondent. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://thecorrespondent.com/32/the-past-is-still-present-why-colonialism-deserves-better-coverage
Wilson, K., & Hodgson, C. (2018, September 5). Colonization, Pulling Together: Foundations guide. BCcampus. https://opentextbc.ca/indigenizationfoundations/chapter/43/
