Has colonization ended?
Despite hundreds of years of colonialism and imperialism, several Asian and African
nations were liberated from formal colonial domination in the middle of the twentieth century.
As a result, a considerable section of the population in both former colonizing and colonized
countries believes that colonization is a thing of the past. In actuality, it remains a powerful
effect in the current world. Many parts of the world are still directly occupied by military forces,
including Kashmir, Palestine, Western Sahara, Crimea, and South Ossetia. Former colonial
territories are still under the jurisdiction of states and nations such as the United Kingdom
(Kortright, 2003). Not to mention white settler states such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
and the United States, where colonization of indigenous territories has long been institutionalized
and established.
Colonialism, as I currently understand it, refers to the structure or procedures utilized by
one group of people (typically a nation) to exploit the other while pretending to be the inherently
better group. Colonial powers shape not only how we perceive race, and also class, culture,
sexuality, and sexual orientation. Consider colonial-era "anti-sodomy" laws, which prohibited
homosexuality in dozens of countries worldwide, from Bhutan to the Maldives, Gambia to
Zimbabwe (Kortright, 2003). Rarely, if ever, were these laws repealed. More than half of the 80
nations that forbid homosexuality are former British colonies, according to Human Rights
Watch. Kenya's anti-gay sex statute has been the target of intense advocacy from LGBTQ
campaigners.
Colonialism has harmed both the civilizations of the colonizers and the colonized.
According to me, disproportionate harshness toward colonized peoples constitutes the act of
colonialism. When the beneficiaries of European colonialism rationalized and accepted this
brutality (Kubik, Bourassa & Hampton, 2009). For instance, if a poison were injected into the
veins of Europe, the continent would gradually but surely collapse into barbarism. However, the
more pernicious forms of violence that formerly colonized peoples now suffer are where the
poison has still been felt the most keenly. After states acquired independence in the mid-20th
century, the laws, economic institutions, and cultural roots of European colonialism survived
(Eshleman, 1986). Borders, migration, uneven citizenship, workplace conditions, trade
agreements, supply chains, healthcare, global development aid, education, tourism, diplomatic,
art, and sport are just a few of the many facets of our world that remain tainted by the legacies of
past empires.
Sometimes, like in the Windrush hoax, the past is painfully obvious. According to The
Guardian, which has been publishing reports on the subject since 2017, the British government
unlawfully deported at least 83 people of Caribbean heritage who entered the country between
1948 and 1973, and it has harassed and detained hundreds more as part of its official policy of
creating a "hostile environment." Many of these people immigrated to the UK when they were
young and were considered to be a part of the "Windrush generation," so named in recognition of
the ship that brought over 1,000 immigrants from Jamaica to the country in 1948. (Eshleman,
1986). They made their own lives, reared British children and grandchildren, assisted in
rebuilding a country and civilization that had been decimated by World War II, and endured a
barrage of threats and humiliations. The UK government reportedly went after people who were
born in colonies as British subjects and thus qualified for full British citizenship rights under a
1948 law. Others who were persecuted had legally immigrated to the UK up until 1973 in
accordance with the changing immigration and citizenship laws for British residents (Kortright,
2003). In this case, as the UK government's ignorance its own colonial ancestry citizenship was
at the heart of the narrative, the pertinent history was thoroughly documented. When it was
discovered that the UK Home Office had destroyed the arrival cards that would have provided
crucial evidence in favor of persons facing deportation, the extent of government malfeasance
was made clear. With the exception of the Windrush scandal, links between colonial past and
current problems are generally only mentioned in passing in daily news reporting. Reports
frequently lack specific context information because what is considered "relevant" is mostly
limited to recent events.
According to Kubik, Bourassa, and Hampton (2009), colonial powers that had already
left their original borders granted freedom to nations in Asia and Africa. However, colonialism is
still very much alive today. All around the world, from Western Africa to Libya, Palestine to
Ukraine, and militarily occupied regions like Kashmir, it still persecutes poor nations and
minorities. For the first time in more than three decades, the Climate Change Intergovernmental
Panel (IPCC) referred to "colonialism" in a report from 2022. The world's top climate experts
concur that colonialism has previously and still is a factor in the climate crisis (Vijil & Rivera,
2020).
Current development difficulties that because high vulnerability is driven by historical
and ongoing patterns of unfairness, such as colonialism, particularly for many Indigenous
peoples and local communities, according to the report. Officials and scientists from all across
the world are finally acknowledging the critical role colonialism has played in warming our
planet and destroying its many benefits (Kubik, Bourassa & Hampton, 2009). The promise of
looting the environment and subjugating inhabitants drove colonialism. And the pervasive and
enduring institutions of colonialism make addressing the climate catastrophe and implementing
solutions even more difficult, particularly in a just and equitable manner.
References
Eshleman, V. R. (1986). Colonization of space: destiny or folly?. Nature, 324(6093), 115-115.
Kortright, C. (2003). Colonization and identity. The Anarchist Library, 1-14.
Kubik, W., Bourassa, C., & Hampton, M. (2009). Stolen sisters, second class citizens, poor
health: The legacy of colonization in Canada. Humanity & Society, 33(1-2), 18-34.
Vijil, A., & Rivera, S. (2020). How Former Colonization has affected the Educational System
and Facilitated the Recruitment and Exploitation of Children in Transnational Criminal
Organizations (TCO's).
