Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the European ambition was widespread and due to that they captured foreign territories all over the world, which comprised North and South America, Asia, Africa, Oceania and pretty much everywhere except Antarctica. This colonization resulted in immense treasure exploitation, human trafficking, a drastic increase in slavery and racist activities. Despite the modernization which colonization introduced, the damage it caused still has impacts all over the globe.
Today, even though the colonizers have left their colonies and have no military control, neo-colonialism remains to exist. The term Neo-colonialism was coined by Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president in 1965, which meant that the former imperial nations of our world control other countries economically, socially and politically.
Revisiting Chinese Neo-Colonialism
One of the impacts of neo-colonialism included the existence of a social dilemma: The Colonizers were and will remain to be ‘Superior’. In the sub-continent, Angrezi bolni nahi ati? (can you not talk in English?) is a sentence people use to judge another’s intellectual abilities, instead of judging their skills and knowledge. Language, a mode of communication, has evolved into becoming a standard of living. If one speaks in English in the sub-continent, then they have succeeded in establishing their superiority over the ones who do not. The same ideology is inculcated in the minds of other former colonies; prior French colonies (e.g. some areas of Africa) find it essential to converse in French instead of their native language in order to express their supposed ‘intellect’.
Oftentimes people tend to defend this stance with the mention of globalization. However what they fail to comprehend is that there is a difference between globalization and neo-colonialism. Globalization is a vital part of our lives, considering that we need it to develop a link with the rest of the world, to share our ideas and to gain theirs, to stay updated on world affairs and to find the unified means of conversation. In order to drain the effect of neo-colonialism and to adopt the methods of globalization simultaneously, it is important for us to develop a balance between what we do; respecting, promoting and learning about our own culture, language and traditions, along with learning the essentials for global connections. This will construct a balanced lifestyle. More importantly, it is crucial to understand that our colonizers were and are not superior to us. Neither are we superior to them, nor are they to us. Sentences like , “Kitni khubsoorat aur safed hai” in Pakistan and India, should be abolished because they have set a single judgement criterion: a fair complexion, since the British are “fair, superior and beautiful.”
From a more economical perspective, through neo-colonialism, countries have been draining the resources of third world countries like Pakistan, by setting up industries with a low capital investment, and then selling the products on a higher profit. Through this technique, they obey the crux of capitalism: “The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer”; the rich countries get richer through their activities, draining the poor countries of their own resources. Through such practices, countries like the USA, the UK and China tend to remain on the top of the economy. They, without any forceful military tactics, exploit other countries for their own benefit.
An example of neo-colonialism is when a rich country provides a poor country with a loan, with a massive debt along with it. One of the great institutions that provide most poor countries with loans is the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It has been claimed by many that the World Bank and the IMF are establishments that maintain neo-colonialism and have led in making the poor countries worse economically.
Neo-Colonialism & Our Elusive Search for Freedom In 21st Century
