Economic and Human Impact of Colonialism
After the industrial revolution in late 18th century, there emerged a new globalized economy. Capitalism expanded beyond the boundaries of Europe. A number of countries of the Asia, Africa and Latin America were brought within its sphere, but as these countries were not as developed and ready for global economy so the relationship developed among them was not as equals but as colonies.
Europeans states being more developed, organized and advanced in trade and technology wanted to grow their markets. From 1876 to 1915 about one quarter of the globe’s land surface was distributed in the form of colonies amongst half a dozen European states. The economies of the third world were restructured to export raw materials to, and serve as markets for the manufactured goods of the industrial economies.
Human Impact:
The new division of the world reached into the very heart of humanity: the colonized people were ruptured from the history, language and culture as they internalize the image of the native, an image that was constructed by the settlers charged with the “civilizing mission”.
As Aime Cesaire points out: “I am talking of millions of men who have been skillfully injected with fear, inferiority complexes, trepidation, servility, despair, abasement.”
People in colonies were treated in a very inhumane manner and were killed, starved to death, were made to face “Manufactured famines”. The soldiers were told they could shoot anyone they liked (provided they were black)
• Apart from this “there were at least twenty such atrocities overseen and organised by the British government or British colonial settlers: they include, for example, the Tasmanian genocide, the use of collective punishment in Malaya, the bombing of villages in Oman, the dirty war in North Yemen, the evacuation of Diego Garcia.” (George Monbiot)
Economic Impact:
Colonialism emerged in result of different phases in the structure of the world economy and we’re interested in knowing the economic situations of these phases.
Precursor Stage to Industrialization (From 16th Century to Mid-18th Century)
Appropriation of resources was “the outcome of value stolen, plundered, seized by tricks, pressure or violence, from the overseas peoples …” (Ernest Mandel, 1968, p. 443)
“They forcibly seize the belongings and goods of the peasants, traders, and others, at a quarter of their value, and by means of violence and oppression they make them pay five rupees for goods that are worth no more than one.“ (Complaint by an administrator of the Nawab of Bengal, quoted by H. Verlest in A View of the Rise of English Government in Bengal, 1772, cited in Ernest Mandel, Op. Cit., p. 446)
India at the outset of the East India Company (1615–1857)
India was a far greater industrial and manufacturing nation than any in Europe or any other in Asia. Her textile goods — the fine products of her looms, in cotton, wool, linen and silk — were famous over the civilized world; so were her exquisite jewellery and her precious stones cut in every lovely form; so were her pottery, porcelains, ceramics of every kind, quality, color and beautiful shape; so were her fine works in metal — iron, steel, silver and gold. (J. T. Sunderland in Shashi Tharoor, Inglorious Empire pp. 2)
At the beginning of the 18th century, India’s share of the world economy was 23% and 3% by the time the British departed India. In 1901, William Digby calculated the net amount extracted by the economic drain in the 19th Century, with remarkable precision, at £4,187,922,732 (current value)
To reduce competition after 1757, the East India Company and the British ships that they contracted were given a monopoly on trade routes. Duties were imposed on Indian merchant ships moving to and from Indian ports. Colonies of the United Kingdom took some 40% of Bengal-built ships out of the lucrative India-England trade.
2. Industrialization (late 18th to mid-19th century)
Colonialism was intended to secure sources of raw materials and exclusive markets for the manufactured goods of the West. To achieve this, economies of the colonies were restructured to specialize in the export of cheap raw materials on the one hand and import of manufactured goods on the other. The colonialism brought development to west and under-development for colonies.
India: From Export of Textile Manufactures to Export of Raw Materials
“Age-old industrial centers died. Dacca was partly overgrown with jungle. The craftsmen, reduced to idleness, split over into agriculture. The vicious circle closed when, after 1833, Britain decided to develop on a large scale in India the production of agricultural raw materials, especially cotton plantations. A people who formerly had exported cotton goods to all parts of the world now exported only raw cotton, to be worked up in Britain and sent back to India as textile goods!”
(Mandel, 1968, p. 447)
3. Emergence of Large National Corporations and Export of Capital from Europe to the Third World (late 19th to mid 20th century).
As European states gathered most of wealth and raw material from third world countries, and then they started exporting the finished products to same countries. This led to a bigger demand of finished goods and effective collaboration between production units. Thus Change in the size of the typical production unit from the small firm to large national corporations occurred.
These bigger MNCs helped them get their goals but the factor of National ego, Contention and conflict between the industrial countries of the West also leaded towards World wars and again, this caused loss for third world countries.
4. The Emergence of Multinational Corporations: Structure and Dynamics of the World Economy in the 20th Century
After World War II, the military-industrial ties were developed to secure multi nationals.
Collaboration amongst the Western industrial countries to collectively secure the raw material sources and integrate global markets for goods and capital took place. The industrial production units started producing ample amount of finished goods and consumer centric culture emerged where consumers were also to buy what they don’t might need , using advertisement industry.
Credits :
Author of this essay Mr. Hamid Saeed is CEO Shahruh Technologies (PVT) LTD. The essay is done as part of research at Information Technology University, Lahore under the supervision of Dr. Syed Akmal Hussain for the course of Key Challenges in Development.
