In the recent time, a significant number of research papers are focused on the investigation of the economic inequality on the global scale. According to the researchers, “colonialism is a major explanation behind today’s differences in income inequality across countries” (Angeles 1155). The economic gaps between the developed and the developing parts of the world experience dramatic growth. The rise in awareness regarding these issues demonstrate that the causes provoking inequalities and the economic underdevelopment must be evaluated and recognized to elaborate the effective methods for the improvement of the current situation and provide the balanced distribution of wealth among nations.
According to Cypher and Dietz, colonialism may be defined as the plundering of resources of an economically and military weaker country by a stronger nation that may also result in a “severe demographic crisis” (78). According to the recent research findings, the economic inequality was significantly higher in those countries where the number of the European colonies was bigger (Angeles 1155). It is observed that the colonization of the countries by the Europeans may be considered as the factor that predetermined the patterns of the local social, political, and economic institution development. The participation of the European settlers in the development of these institutions played a significant role in the provocation of the economic weakness of the colonized countries (Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson 1369).
According to Promes, colonialism is defined as “the domination of one group of people over another; this was made manifest through a condition of monopoly in the exploitation of natural resources, labor, trade, and fiscal revenues by the dominant power” (6). Colonialism is the phenomenon that takes place when the technically advanced and developed civilization comes into contact with the less developed civilization. In this way, the dominant nation obtains the monopoly over human, economic, and natural resources in the region, and takes control over the informational and cultural sources as well. In case the monopolistic pattern of behavior successfully continues, the domination of one culture over another becomes stronger and progressive. It is observed, that the progressive colonization is characterized by the discriminative and manipulative attitudes in educational, legal, cultural, linguistic, and administrative dimensions of the social structure. As a result, social class divisions and socio-economic inequality occur. According to Promes, “these internal divisions and structures would then remain intact long after the colonies had achieved independence” (7).
The excess exploitation of resources by the ruling political forces during the period of colonization results in the economic underdevelopment and the low growth rates in the post-colonization period. According to the researchers of the African colonial experience, the poor political and economic development in the region was caused by both direct and indirect modes of rule. “Under indirect rule, exploitation activities by the colonial ruler create distrust between the indigenous privileged class and other people, harming postcolonial economic and political development in Africa” (Mizuno and Okazawa 406). Through the historical analysis, it was established that the colonial rulers and the ruling indigenous groups may exploit the local natural and economic resources for their benefit and personal consumption. At the same time, the subordinate groups cannot be fully aware of the extent and quantity of the taken resources. As a result, the imbalance of wealth distribution takes place.
According to the further research findings of Mizuno and Okazawa, when the non-indigenous colonial rulers withdraw from the state, the privileged group takes control over the political power (406). Nevertheless, the ideologies and beliefs that were formed throughout the colonization period may significantly affect the policies and legal regulations designed and adopted by a new local government. “The tyranny of the colonial ruler makes the ruled group suspicious of the ruling group and leads to inefficient activities of the ruled group, such as underinvestment and revolt” (Mizuno and Okazawa 406).
As Angeles claims, the income inequality growth inevitably followed the increase in the number of the European settlers in the colonized regions (1159). It is explained by the fact that the Europeans were able to benefit from the work of the native population and “extract a larger part of the country’s production” (Angeles 1159). On the colonized territories, the distribution of wealth was usually balanced among the members of the European population. Therefore, when the Europeans became the dominant majority, the inequality reached the normal level. There are a few colonies that became populated by the European majority: Australia, the USA, Canada, and New Zealand. This type of colonies is known as “New Europes” (Angeles 1159).
According to Angeles, another type of colonization is the “Settler colonies” (1159). In the Settler colonies, the Europeans constituted the large minority of the overall population. The European minority groups became more skillful in the appropriation of the regional resources while the indigenous people usually had limited access to land and its resources. As a result, they were obligated to work for European settlers to survive. In this way, in this colonial type, the minority groups became a privileged group with an advantageous political and social status that was succeeded by the European settlers’ descendants. As a result, the wealth was disproportionally distributed throughout the period of colonization. The Settler colonies were the countries of the Latin America and Africa.
According to the researchers of the colonial relationship in the Latin America, the interrelations between the native Mexicans and the mixed dominant population groups are characterized by “ethnic discrimination, political dependence, social inferiority, residential segregation, and juridical incapacity” (Promes 8). It is mentioned that the social structure during the period of the Mexican regions colonization is characterized by the social class division that may be defined primarily in terms of ethnicity. As the process of globalization and development of capitalism started gathering pace, the changes in the local economic and social conditions emerged. The interrelation between the global and regional economic forces in the 19th century Mexico, “conspired to keep native communities marginal, inward-looking, and isolated from the outside world” (Promes 9). The regulatory policies and political ideas used throughout the centuries of Mexican colonialism continued to be applied by the governmental authorities to keep the minor native groups economically and socially inferior. In this way, even when Mexico became an independent state the balance between the indigenous people and other national groups stayed as it was in times of the colonization by Spain.
According to Couze, nowadays, the global economic inequality may be considered “the central politico-economic problem, affecting social cohesion and conflict” (226). As it is possible to assume, the inequality is the consequent result of the defects in the political and regulatory mechanisms that induce the misdistribution of economic resources on both regional and global scales. Colonialism is the social structural phenomenon that also involves the political aspects. According to Gonzalez Casanova, the researcher in anthropology, who focused on the investigation of the issues of social and economic inequality in the Latin world, the responsibility for the resolving of the problem is on the national officials (33). The process of decolonization may proceed through the application of the various educational, economic, and political tools, programs, and policies.
According to the neoliberalism’s perspective, “individual as a living being is premised on the universalization of property and competition as founding principles of society” (Couze 226). According to the given principles, a person is largely driven by the self-interest in his/her economic performance. The principles of economic competition and individualism create the commonly accepted values of the capitalist society. Along with the principle of the economic redistribution (taxes, debts, charity, etc.), these values are regarded as the intrinsic elements of the social cohesion.
The legacies and beliefs inherited by the indigenous people from the times of colonization do not simply vanish after the country attains independence. The beliefs play a significant role in the formation of people’s attitudes towards political and economic systems. And as it is demonstrated in the previous literature findings, the colonial social concepts can affect social interactions. The level of indigenous population trust or mistrust towards its rulers influences the political and economic development on the national scale.
The comprehension of the multiple aspects affecting the economic development and wealth distribution in the global society such as political power, social privileges, cultural values, etc. can help to elaborate the novel political instruments that would allow achievement of the redistributive justice through the development of new economic culture and fostering new social and ethical values of equality.
Works Cited
Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. “The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation.” American Economic Review 91 (2001): 1369–1401. Print.
Angeles, Luis. “Income Inequality and Colonialism.” European Economic Review 51.5 (2007): 1155-1176. Print.
Couze, Venn. “Neoliberal Political Economy, Biopolitics and Colonialism A Transcolonial Genealogy of Inequality.” Theory, Culture & Society 26.6 (2009): 206-233. Print.
Cypher, James, and James Dietz. The Process of Economic Development, New York: Taylor & Francis, 2008. Print.
Gonzalez Casanova, Pablo. “Internal Colonialism and National Development”. Studies in Comparative International Development 1.4 (1965): 27-37. Print.
Mizuno, Nobuhiro, and Ryosuke Okazawa. “Colonial Experience and Postcolonial Underdevelopment in Africa.” Public Choice 141.3-4 (2009): 405-419. Print.
Promes, Molly Ellen. “Toward a New Theory of Structural Inequality: Internal Colonialism and the Case of Oakland, California.” Order No. 1505104 University of Oregon, 2011. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web.