1. CULTURAL COLONIALISM
INTRODUCTION:
The term cultural colonialism refers to two related practices: the extension of colonial
power through cultural activities and institutions (particularly education and media) or the
asymmetrical influence of one culture over another. It’s an undecided question in academic
circles (amongst historians for instance) as to whether colonialism is important purely for its
economic consequences, or whether cultural factors (such as missionary Christianity or a sense
of racial superiority) also plays a part.
A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and
symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by
communication and imitation from one generation to the next. Colonialism is the
implementation of various political, economic, and social policies to enable a state to maintain
or extend its authority and control over other territories .
Colonialism and imperialism are often used interchangeably, but they are two different
words having different meaning. As both colonialism and Imperialism means political and
economic domination of the other, scholars often find it hard to differentiate the two.
Though both the words underline suppression of the other, Colonialism is where one
nation assumes control over the other and Imperialism refers to political or economic control,
either formally or informally. In simple words, colonialism can be thought to be a practice and
imperialism as the idea driving the practice.
One of the main objectives of imperialism and colonialism was to exploit the colonies
and their inhabitants to generate economic wealth for the mother country and her
corporations. As a result, large numbers of people were forced into slavery or the system of
indentured laborers, and vast areas of natural habitats were cleared and converted to mono-
cultural plantations.
DISCUSSION:
When one brings up the word ‘colonialism’, people might think of Christopher Columbus
stepping foot onto the coasts of a Caribbean island or maybe the Pilgrims sitting down with
Native Americans for Thanksgiving dinner, but most will fail to note the aftershock or scars of
colonialism. There is not one continent that has not been touched by the hand of colonialism
and imperialism and no time soon will it be forgotten. Most people will agree that colonialism

2. wasn’t so much of a positive thing (a drastic change from public opinion a century ago), but
those same people will tell you to ‘shut up’ and ‘get over it – it’s in the past’ when you rant on
about its horrors. Colonialism did cause much death, slavery, and social injustices, throughout
its reign but it is my opinion that the majority of its wrong doings are taking place today.
The most obvious effect of colonialism that has dragged out throughout the centuries is
that on culture. From the beginning of a power’s induction to imperialism, it has progressed
economically, politically, and culturally. The social and political institutions of these powers
were and are all tweaked in accordance to their populations’ culture. As these powers’ colonies
began to go through the decolonization process, they were programmed and built to fit the
mold of their former colonizers. The highest forms of the culture of imperial powers – clothing,
medicine, housing, religion, family and social institutions, and so on – all began the goal of the
newly found republics. This fact is not so obvious to the naked eye, but one should ask them
the following question to get the picture; how many former colonies have attempted to regress
to their previous cultures?
Colonialism in its modern form first began to take shape about 400 years ago, and it
changed the economic landscape of the world forever. For one thing, it enabled Europe to get
fabulously rich on the trade it produced. The foundations of what we now think of as free-
market capitalism were invented during the colonial era, partly to handle trade.
Cultural colonialism refers to internal domination by one group and its culture or
ideology over others. An example comes from the domination over the former Soviet Union by
Russian language and culture. Dominant cultures make themselves the official culture; Schools,
the media, and public interaction reflect this. Under Soviet rule ethnic minorities had very
limited self–rule in republics and regions controlled by Moscow. The oneness of socialist
internationalism was to unite all the republics and their peoples. A common technique in
cultural colonialism is to flood ethnic areas with members of the dominant ethnic group.
Colonialism is the practice of creating settlements in lands geographically distant from
the parent land. Historically, this has often involved killing or subjugating the
indigenous population. With the spread of Hellenic and Roman culture and technology by the
Roman Empire, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
and the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most of the world has
at some point been colonized by a European country. The most notable colonial powers were
Rome, Greece, Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The ascension of
the colonialism ideology was based on the belief that colonies were an essential attribute of
any great nation. Whether the reason was economic, political, or diplomatic the quest for
overseas possessions was of paramount concern for European nations. Thus more explorations
took place, and these events took on a new meaning.

3. The painful legacy of colonialism could not be further from the truth. The British Empire
in India, known as the Raj, was the greatest experiment in paternalistic imperial government in
history.
When the British colonialists finally managed to take control of the entire subcontinent
back in 1757, they soon realized that it was never going to be easy for them here. They were
forced to confront to a nation that was united, regardless of religious and ethnic differences,
and knew that somehow this unity had to be destroyed. By creating a division they speculated
that the huge nation could be transcended to a high level of mistrust and jealousy. One religion
had to be turned against another. One tribal group and its leaders had to be forced to fight
against another. Alliances had to be broken and discrimination introduced. And so the first
thing they decided to do was take away the people’s most important tool of unity: language.
Before the British colonization, the main language of the subcontinent under Mughal
rule was Farsi—the language brought to the region by the Persian Sufis and saints, Mughal and
Afghan rulers. Both Hindi and Urdu are renditions of Farsi, while Bengali is an evolved form of
Sanskreet, another prominent language of the highly diverse Indian culture. During the pre-
British era, Farsi was the main language of instruction. Although all other languages were
equally appreciated and encouraged by the many communities of the diverse sub-continental
culture, it was Farsi that was spoken in courts and offices; it was Farsi that the books in schools
and colleges were written in; and it was Farsi in which art and literature achieved a modern
dimension in Asia and the Muslim world in particular. The British realized this premonition of
unity, and thus decided that the subcontinent must produce a new breed of intellectuals and
thinkers. And all these educated people had to be learned in English. They foretold that the
only way British imperialism will be indelible in this region is by making the people brown South
Asians talking and thinking in English and trying to sport both an Anglicized accent and
behavior.
And so they abolished all the educational offices and reformed them. Built them all a
new with new institutions based on English imperialist policies and designs.
This was precisely the way the Native Americans had lost their languages to European
colonial settlers. The way the Aborigines and other native tribes like Maoris of the Australian
continent had their languages stolen, eradicated, wiped out and robbed out of them by the
English settlers.
Years later, almost 70 years after the British left the subcontinent, robbing it off of all its
riches and creating enormous sectarian divide and ethnic discrimination, their imperialist
policies are still omnipresent in the region. English is treated as the language of the middle and

4. upper class. English no longer belongs to the British imperialists only anymore. From America to
India to Australia—all these countries have been Anglicized from head to toe.
While one might argue that in this increasingly globalized world, Anglicization was
necessary—-and if it was with the loss of the native tongue then so be it—it must be worth
mentioning, that native tongue is what creates an identity; a culture dating back to thousands
of years. English has to be taught in schools and colleges, but not with the expense of the native
tongue.
The fact that the British imperialist policies are still ubiquitous in Asia under cover was
realized by none other than the Chinese government. In 2010, according to Olinda Hassan, a
Bangladeshi-American blogger, the General Administration of Press and Publication in China
banned the use of English in Chinese media such as books, papers and on the web. The
government explained this move by saying that the use of English and the English-Chinese
combination was rapidly deteriorating the ‘purity’ of the Chinese language and violently
upsetting the nation’s traditional cultural values. However it must also be noted that the
Chinese government also lowered the age for compulsory English from 11 to 9 in 2001 and has
left that policy unchanged as increasing numbers of Chinese students go abroad for educational
degrees. English to them is regarded as a means of personal achievement and the language of
necessity; to be used in offices and global markets and to profit out as responsible global
citizens.
But in the subcontinent, English is deemed as the language that makes everyone an
aristocrat. Being able to speak fluent or broken English in public means; you are an educated,
literate and important citizen. No further qualification is required to attract stares and points,
and the public will be enthralled by what you have to say. Unfortunately, this sort of behavior is
exactly what the British rulers wanted and predicted.
It must be noted that in the increasingly multicultural, largely globalized society that we
dwell in, English is a very important tool for success. According to many scientists, being
multilingual actually enhances the capabilities of your brain by opening up more synapses and
thus increasing the proportion of workable brain. But it should be impressed upon the fact that
English must not be used as another tool of cultural imperialism the British colonialists imposed
upon the subcontinent. The English newspapers, periodicals and publication for teenagers
should not be filled with reviews of British and American music, movies and books every single
day while the local produce is left for only the lower and underprivileged classes to explore.
Foreign productions should be treated as international produce, and no matter how much we
try, foreign art and culture can never be ours.

5. I am sure the British colonialists are laughing from their graves. The once highly
patronized sub-continental languages have now largely been replaced with English as the
language of the upper and middle classes. The traditional languages have been dumped for the
poor working classes and all English-speakers have been made superior. And all this has been
achieved through cultural colonialism.
Answering questions from students in Pakistan, the Prime Minister Mr. Cameron said:
"As with so many of the problems of the world, we are responsible for their creation in the first
place." He said that Britain was not able to replicate its success in India everywhere across its
vast colonial empire; it is still clear the empire gave its colonies real, tangible benefits.
Wherever the British ruled, they erected a light, relatively inexpensive form of government that
was not corrupt, was stable, and was favorable to outside investors.
Their role in laying the foundations for strong, efficient government in India has never
been accorded the respect and admiration it deserves. Not only did Britain oversee the spread
of good government, western education, modern medicine and the rule of law, they also put in
place local works, famine relief, and irrigation projects, most notably in the Punjab, which
benefited enormously from what was then the largest irrigation project in the world.
Perhaps the most priceless asset of all was the English language itself, which gave a
unity to the subcontinent that it had never known before and which is allowing India's people
to do business around the world today with great success.
Although Britain was not able to replicate its success in India everywhere across its vast
colonial empire, it is still clear the empire gave its colonies real, tangible benefits. Wherever the
British ruled, they erected a light, relatively inexpensive form of government that was not
corrupt, was stable, and was favorable to outside investors.
Its imperial civil servants may not always have been completely sympathetic to local
peoples, but they were always motivated by humanitarian impulses and did their best in often
difficult circumstances. Indeed, when we look at Africa, many of the benefits of imperial rule
were squandered in the generations after independence with a succession of corrupt and brutal
regimes.
CONCLUSION:
Not only have cultures been adopted or reformed, but complete cultures have
disappeared. The worst thing about one culture attempting to live that of another’s is the
adoption of values specified for a completely different peoples.

6. Colonialism has undoubtedly affected our culture. Colonialism caused the loss of
sovereignty which is the loss of the right of a state to control its own destiny, to play in its own
development, to conduct its own diplomacy and internal relations, to decide which outside
nations to associate with or to emulate and above all to manage or even mismanage its own
affairs, derive pride and pleasure from its success and derive lessons, frustration and
experience from its failures.
Colonialism might be long gone but its scars have yet to even begin to heal. Reparations
in no way have been handed over to the post colonies for the imperial actions committed
against them. In fact, these post colonies find themselves in debt to the former colonial powers.
The blame for all of these woes have been retracted from the former imperial powers thus
creating a whole generation or two within the post colonies who blame the “inefficiencies” of
their countries for their horrible conditions. They are mistaken, for it is not domestic
inefficiencies but colonial scars that make the Third World the way it is today.