Sunday, June 26, 2011

Colonialism-imperialism


Colonialism-imperialism

1-The colonialism is defined as the extension of a nation's sovereignty over territory beyond its borders by the establishment of either settler or exploitation colonies in which indigeneous populations are ruled, displaced, or exterminated.

2-Colonizing nations generally dominate the resources, labour and markets of the colonial territory, and may also impose socio-cultural-religious and linguistic structures on the indigeneous population.

3-It is essentially a system of irect political, economic and cultural intervention and hegemonyby a powerful country on a weaker one.

4- Though the word colonialism is often used interchangeably with imperialism, the latter is sometimes used more broadly as it covers control exercised informally ( via influence) as well as formal military control or economic leverage.

4-The term colonialism may also be used to refer to an ideology or a set of beliefs used to legitimize or promote this system.

5-Colonialism was often based on the ethnocentric belief that the morals and values of the colonizer were superior to those of the colonized- some observers link such beliefs to racism and pseudo-scintific theories dating from the 18th. to the 19th. centuries.

6-In the western world, this led to a form of proto-social Darwinism that placed white people at the top of the animal kingdom, naturally in charge of dominating non-European aboriginal populations.

7- Actually speaking colonialism was developed in the age of feudalistic society and was extended upto the stage of imperialism, by passing the first stage of capitalism.

8-Wage labour is the basis of capitalistic society. Though wage labour existed under all antagonistic social system but only in the last stage its exploitation made the basis of Capitalistic Society. "Without wage labour," Marx said, there is no production of surplus value.... without production of surplus value there is no Capitalistic production and no Capital, hence no Capitalist.

9-Engales pointed out, "through the history of early Capitalism purely proletarian economic battles merged into a common struggle of the popular masses against feudalism and reaction.

10-In every great bourgeois movement , there were independent outbursts of that class which was the forerunner , more or less developed, of the modern proletariat".

11-In fact working class developed itself as a class after the formation of industrial proletariat and that took place after the Industrial Revolution i.e., at the end of eighteenth century.

12-Marx wrote in his Manifesto of the Communist Party that the modern industry had converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist.

13-From the earlier stage of the society, it was divided into two classes, oppressor and oppressed, Marx said in his Manifesto that the bourgeoisie wherever it had got the upper hand, had put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations.

14-It had pitilessly torn assunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his natural "superiors", and had left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self interest, than callous "cash payment."

15-It had drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour , of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical caculation.


16-So far in the society man reigned over man, now capital was destined to reign over human being. The process of liquidation of economic and political relations based on the oppression of colonial and dependent countries by the superior powers gradually faced a crisis when Capitalism ascended to its highest form which Lenin said Imperialism , the highest stage of Capitalism, at the end of the nineteenth century.

17-At this stage many economists and philosophers tried to explain the global phenomenon which led to the FIRST WORLD WAR in 1914-1918.

18-Lenin, in Zurich, in the spring of 1916 studied a book, Imperialism- a study written by J.A.Hobson in 1902, discussed thouroghly about the growth of capitalism and forecasted its fate.

19-Though, uptil now, Lenin's forecast could not find a road to success still capitalism did not get rid of its crisis even after facing two World war within a very small span of time.

20-The system of antagonistic relations between imperialist powers and the peoples of the economically less developed countriesenslaved by these powers.

21-The largest colonial empires , those of Great Britain, France, Belgiumand other countries, emerged as a result of fierce colonial wars.

22-According to Lenin's definition of imperialism , three forms of colonial enslvement may be identified : 1. the colonies or the countries exploited by a metropolis and dependent on it poltically or economically, 2. the semi-colonies or the countries which enjoy a formal political independence but are tied up by inequitable international treaties and are explained in the same way as the formal colonies, e.g. countries of Latin America,3. dependent countries or the states enslaved and exploited by economic methods of monopoly capital domination.

23-These forms of colonial oppression provides the imperialist powers markets for raw materials, centres for capital investment, military strategic strongholds and reserves for the reinforcements of their army.

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