Neocolonialism and the Coloniality of Power
Neocolonialism and the coloniality of power name the ways colonial domination persists after formal independence, through economics, culture, and structures of knowledge.
Definition
The study of how colonial relations of domination persist after independence, through neocolonial economic control and the enduring colonial matrix of power, knowledge, and being.
Scope
This topic examines theories of persistent colonial domination: Nkrumah's account of neocolonialism as continued economic control, and the Latin American decolonial school's concept of the coloniality of power, knowledge, and being. It connects postcolonial critique with analyses of global inequality and Eurocentrism.
Core questions
- How does colonial domination persist after formal independence?
- What is the difference between neocolonialism and coloniality?
- How does coloniality structure knowledge and subjectivity?
Key theories
- Neocolonialism
- Kwame Nkrumah argued that formally independent states remain subordinated through external economic and political control, a continuation of imperialism by other means.
- Coloniality of power and being
- Quijano and Maldonado-Torres argued that a colonial matrix of racial classification, knowledge, and dehumanization outlived colonialism and structures modernity itself.
History
Nkrumah named neocolonialism in 1965 amid African independence. From the 1990s, the Latin American modernity/coloniality group, including Quijano and Maldonado-Torres, developed coloniality as a structural concept linking colonialism to the very constitution of the modern world.
Debates
- Coloniality versus postcolonial theory
- Decolonial theorists distinguish their structural account of coloniality from text-centered postcolonial theory, prompting debate over their relationship.
Key figures
- Anibal Quijano
- Kwame Nkrumah
- Nelson Maldonado-Torres
Related topics
Seminal works
- quijano2000
- nkrumah1965
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between colonialism and coloniality?
- Colonialism is a historical period of direct rule, while coloniality, in decolonial theory, is the enduring matrix of power, racial hierarchy, and knowledge that persists after colonialism formally ends.