Then and now : colonialism, Imperialism and postcolonilism

Then and Now: Colonialism, Imperialism and Post-colonialism

   Ania Loomba's Colonialism and Post-colonialism is an invaluable introductory text to theories and debates which animate post colonial studies.

Ania Loomba

      Ania Loomba is an Indian literary scholar. She is the author of Colonialism and Postcolonialismand works as a literature professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
    Loomba researches and teaches English literature and early modern culture, postcolonialism, the history of colonialism and postcolonialism in South Asia, as well as postcolonial literature and culture. At the center of her interests are the history and literature of racism, colonialism and nation building from the 16th century to the present day.

Her book

Ania Loomba discussed in detail about these terms in her Colonialism and Postcolonialism.

 What is Colonialism :- 

According to Oxford English Dictionary, the word colonialism come from the  Roman ‘colonia’ which meant ‘farm’ or ‘settlement’ and referred to Romans who settled in other lands but still retained their citizenship.

        The control and governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory or people.

Post colonialism :-

The study of the term post-colonialism is ongoing debate, it is not only study of the time after colonialism but also how it continues in today’s time also. It is also harder to pin down this term in particular context. Also the different  meanings of colonialism and imperialism complicate the meaning of this term.

      The post colonialism is the study of a culture after the physical or political withdrawal of an oppressive power. 

Imperialism :

The OED defines,

‘Imperial’as pertaining to empire and imperialism as the ruler of an emperor, especially when despotic or arbitrary; the principal or spirit of empire; advocacy of what are held to be imperial interests.

But as she pointed out that, the term imperialism is not understood by pinning it down to a single semantic meaning   rather it is better understood  by relating its shifting meaning to historical process. The distinction between precapitalist and capitalist colonialism is often made by referring to the latters as imperialism. This term is also defined by linking it to a particular stage of development of capitalism and it is also considered as the highest stage of capitalism.