Settler colonialism is a form of colonialism where the empire displaces or eradicates the natives in order to offer the natives’ land to settlers. This gives settlers a strong material incentive to migrate there (free land), as well as a common enemy to rally against (the natives).
Classic examples of settler colonies are the British American colonies (later the U.S.) and Israel. Contrast with a colonial project like British India. Nazi Germany undertook a settler colonial project in Eastern Europe (that was directly inspired by the U.S. treatment of natives) that was stopped before it could be completed.
Thank you. I’m well aware of the practice but didn’t know it had a particular name attached to it. I’ll need to look up the contrasting practice utilized in British India.
Gerald Horne’s The Counter-Revolution of 1776 goes into a lot of fascinating detail about the colonial history of the U.S., particularly on the points of how settlers were attracted to the colonies, how the concept of whiteness was created to unite disparate European groups against natives and enslaved Africans, and how the settler-driven desire for more land created friction between the colonies and the metropole. Highly recommend.
Can you expand on the settler-colonial problem? I’ve not heard the phrase before.
Settler colonialism is a form of colonialism where the empire displaces or eradicates the natives in order to offer the natives’ land to settlers. This gives settlers a strong material incentive to migrate there (free land), as well as a common enemy to rally against (the natives).
Classic examples of settler colonies are the British American colonies (later the U.S.) and Israel. Contrast with a colonial project like British India. Nazi Germany undertook a settler colonial project in Eastern Europe (that was directly inspired by the U.S. treatment of natives) that was stopped before it could be completed.
Thank you. I’m well aware of the practice but didn’t know it had a particular name attached to it. I’ll need to look up the contrasting practice utilized in British India.
Gerald Horne’s The Counter-Revolution of 1776 goes into a lot of fascinating detail about the colonial history of the U.S., particularly on the points of how settlers were attracted to the colonies, how the concept of whiteness was created to unite disparate European groups against natives and enslaved Africans, and how the settler-driven desire for more land created friction between the colonies and the metropole. Highly recommend.
Thanks very much, I’ll give it a read.