colonialism

An encompassing process by which a foreign power dominates and exploits an Indigenous group’s resources, wealth, labour, and cultural-linguistic assets. It is often supported by racist dogmas about the inherent superiority of colonizing groups and inherent inferiority of colonized groups. Colonialism also refers to a specific era of European expansion into non-European territories between the 16th and 20th centuries. The ongoing, long-term manifestations of colonialism – e.g., the effects of globalization – are referred to as neo-colonialism.