Decolonization
Decolonization is the process through which a colony achieves independence from a colonizing power, transitioning to an autonomous nation. This historical phenomenon involves the dismantling of colonial structures that often established dependencies in various forms—political, economic, and cultural—among the colonized populations. The roots of colonization and decolonization can be traced back to empires that expanded their territories from the 15th century onward, with significant developments occurring after World War II, as weakened European powers faced growing nationalist movements in their colonies.
Decolonization has manifested in diverse ways, ranging from violent struggles to more peaceful transitions, with notable examples including the independence of India and the conflicts in Indochina. Today, the legacy of these processes continues to impact former colonies, many of which grapple with building infrastructure and national identity while overcoming historical oppression. Additionally, decolonization is increasingly recognized as a cultural movement, promoting indigenous rights and traditions, and fostering the development of unique national identities.
Although significant progress has been made, the geopolitical landscape of decolonization remains incomplete, with some territories still classified as non-autonomous. Overall, decolonization is acknowledged as an ongoing endeavor, intertwining politics, culture, and social dynamics, and continues to be a pertinent area of study and discussion in various academic fields.
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Decolonization
Decolonization is the process by which a colony gains its independence from the colonizing nation in order to become an autonomous country. Colonization, a concept used in many contexts, usually refers to the long-term dominance of a people and geographic territory by a more powerful group from outside. This dominance by one nation over others may take various forms—some more lenient than others—involving the imposition of a government, military force, economy, culture, education, religion, and technology. One of the characteristics of colonization is the creation by colonizers of a dependency—educational or economic, for example—among the dominated group. The process of decolonization may be only partial or may involve more than severance of political independence, as a former colony must undergo the long process of becoming free from dependency and suffer the impact of decades—or centuries—of economic, military, cultural, and other forms of oppression.
Background
Processes of colonization and decolonization have a long history, as when the Roman Empire expanded its dominions across Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, ancient concepts and strategies of colonization were different from those developed in the modern era. The notion of imperialism and colonization as ideological concepts arose in the nineteenth century, based on the understanding of an empire as a group of countries under the rule of a single nation state. The empires of Spain, Portugal, Britain, and France began to explore and conquer other nations in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By the first decades of the nineteenth century, most colonies in the Americas had gained their independence. Among the modern European empires in the late nineteenth and the twentieth century were the Spanish, British, French, Russian, and Belgian, with colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. As late as the early twentieth century, Italy annexed some African regions.
One of the most important consequences of World War II was the decolonization of many European colonies. Grouped with Latin American nations that gained independence much earlier, these newly independent nations were called the Third World countries and are known today as the developing world. These former colonies reached their independence in the context of the global polarization between capitalist and communist systems, known as the Cold War. The postwar partition of Germany and the Korean War were catalysts for the political division of the world into two spheres of influence: the United States and the Soviet Union. The military and economic losses suffered by European empires during the war left them weakened, while nationalist independence movements in colonial territories grew stronger. In addition, the United States and the Soviet Union supported these emancipating movements. The United Nations also played an important role in the worldwide process of decolonization, by gathering and unifying the votes of nations that were becoming independent.
Decolonization took different forms. In some, such as the former Indochina (now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), the independence process was violent and gave way to years of warfare. In others, such as in India, internecine religious wars broke out among the population. Other nations went through more peaceful decolonization processes.
Decolonization Today
Decolonized countries contain the majority of the world’s population. Today approximately 2 million people live in colonies or protectorates, while 750 million people live in former colonies. The geopolitical process of decolonization is not complete; as of 2015 there were still sixteen nonautonomous nations recognized as such by the United Nations, including Gibraltar in Europe, Western Sahara in Africa, and several territories in Asia, the Americas, and the Caribbean.
The British process of decolonization has been more peaceful than many others have been. The United Kingdom formed the Commonwealth in order to trade and maintain friendly ties with its former colonies. The Commonwealth began with the decolonization of Australia in the late 1880s and was officially recognized in 1949. The Commonwealth comprises over fifty states, all of which are considered free and equal. They share some common cultural traits, as well as similar political, legal, and educational systems.
In some instances, however, the peaceful model of British decolonization proved a failure, as in the cases of India and Pakistan and of former colonies in the Middle East, all of which devolved in long-term internecine warfare. Other movements of independence proved traumatic, as was the case of France. The nations of Indochina—now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia—and Algeria suffered through brutal wars against France in order to become independent. Former colonies face other challenges. The process of colonization usually involved modernization—the building of schools and hospitals in the colonies, for example—coupled with an economic system subservient to the colonizing power. Decolonization, then, involved the challenges of building and maintaining national infrastructures as an economically autonomous new nation. This has proven an uneven process for many nations across the world.
Decolonization today is also understood as a widespread cultural development. Indigenous leaders in the colonies, educated in the empire but long excluded from power in their countries of origin, rose to prominent positions in government, education, and the professional world after their nations became independent. Examples of such leaders are Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohandas Gandhi, and Kemal Ataturk. These new nationalist movements gave way to the rise of diverse national identities, politics, and cultures. The political process of decolonization has also implied the adoption of indigenous mores and traditions in the legal, political, educational, and international trade systems of many countries, as in the case of the Pluricultural Republic of Bolivia.
New cultural paradigms involve recognizing and moving away from cultural hegemony—the pervasive influence of one culture over another—in order to create authentic and original work. These transformative social movements operate within a multicultural and pluralistic paradigm that covers the arts, cultural industries, mass media, and academic arenas. From it came the celebration of languages, literature, music, and other ways of expressing the world that, until then, had been relegated to the margins. Academic theoretical fields have been developed to study social dynamics occurring in formerly colonized territories and oppressed communities. Examples of such academic areas would be multiculturalism, postcolonialism, and decolonialism, which intersect many academic disciplines. Most experts agree that decolonization remains an ongoing process.
Bibliography
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