accessed at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny/history/virtual/ portrait.htm on April 18, 2004

Colonialism is a system in which a state claims sovereignty over territory and people outside its own boundaries, often to facilitate economic domination over their resources, labor, and other markets. The term also refers to a set of beliefs used to legitimize or promote this system, especially the belief that the mores of the colonizer are superior to those of the colonized.

Advocates of colonialism argue that colonial rule benefits the colonized by developing the economic and political infrastructure necessary for modernization and democracy. They point to such former colonies as Singapore as examples of post-colonial success.

Dependency theorists however, argue that colonialism actually leads to the net transfer of wealth from the colonized to the colonizer, and inhibits successful economic development.

Post-colonialist critics such as Franz Fanon argue that colonialism doespolitical, psychological, and moral damage to the colonized as well. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism Accessed April, 18, 2004.)

Characteristics of Colonialism

"the governing race is first and foremost those who come from elsewhere, those who are unlike the original inhabitants, 'the others' " -Franz Fanon The Wretched of the Earth

Colonizer Views self as an objective observer Views self as semi-divine protector,   paternal figure Has a sense of (civilizing) mission Views self as an individualist Has an economic imperative Self-declared authority and authorship Renames, re-orders space   Equates colonization with progress

Native (in colonizer's view) Performs mimesis or is simply mute Good savage- generous, kind, loving and loyal Bad savage- cannibals, violent Fears of the colonizer projected onto the male native body, viewed as dangerous, or alternately, emasculated into docility. Desires of the colonizer projected onto the female native body, viewed as extremely sexual, wild yet conquerable Infantiliized Disorganized Communal

• A relationship between colonizer and colonized that involves sustained explotation


• Widespead and constant use of a variety of forms of violence and force for control of Others.


• The violence can take any of the following forms:

accessed at http://www.helblazer.com on April 10, 2004

Military

Characterized by the administration of 3power through a bureaucracy and structures of surveillence and segregation to control bodies

Cultural

Characterized by the hegemonizing of colonizers' intellectual and social systems over the existsing culture.

Economic

Characterized by an imposed "modern" economic system that creates dependance on the colonizers, especially relating to the exploitation of abundant natural resources present in the colonized territory by the colonizers

 

Religious

Characterized by the imposition of one system (the colonizers' "true," "sacred" system) onto another (the

natives' "false" "demonic" system) with prohibition of the original system

"I took possession of all these islands in the name of our invincible King...[should they] wish to injure those who have remained in the fortress, they could not do so, for they have no arms, they go naked, and are moreover too cowardly..." -Christopher Colombus First Voyage to the New World