Imperialism and colonialism

Imperialism and Postcolonialism
Like Colonialism, the word imperialism is not something new in history, but it gained a special meaning given by Lenin in the early twentieth century. The concept ofimperialism was linked to the development of capitalism. In The Highest stage of Capitalism(1947) Lenin predicted Western countries would subordinate non-industrialised countries to sustain itsgrowth and in due course the rest of the world would be absorbed by European finance capitalists. This stage of capitalist development and this global way of domination could be called imperialism. <br/><br /> In Britain the imperial phase was linked to the all sorts of cultural ideology. The race ideology was a crucial one to the establishment of empire. Imperialism attached to the ideaof a civilizing mission, presupposed racial superiority and the fundamental difference between civilization and savagery that justified and required the civilizing mission assumed a basicdifferentiation between white and non-white races. <br /><br /> Imperialism can also be defined as an economic system of penetration and control of markets without direct political control, as in thecase of the American Imperialism that has been subjugated various nations for a considered amount of time. <br /><br /> To define the term postcolonial or postcolonialism is not an easytask because it has been subject of an endless debate. These terms have been contested by many critics. The prefix “post” for example is contested for its implying meaning of coming after or supplanting.For some critics if the consequences of the colonialism are still present and visible, then it is an exaggerated premature to proclaim the demise of colonialism. It should be considered that acountry can be politically independent but remaining economically and culturally dependent at the same time. It has been suggested that it is more helpful to think of postcolonialism not just as coming...