Colonialism, Capitalism and Racism
A Postcolonial Chronicle of Dutch and Belgian Practice
9789048559916
432 pages
Amsterdam University Press
Overview
For a long time, Europe’s colonizing powers justified their urge for expansion with the conviction that they were ‘bringing civilization to territories where civilization was lacking.’ This doctrine of white superiority and indigenous inferiority was accompanied by a boundless exploitation of local labor. Under colonial rule, the ideology that later became known as neoliberalism was free to subject labor to a capitalism tainted by racialized policies. This political economy has now become dominant in the Western world, too, and has reversed the trend towards equality. In Colonialism, Capitalism and Racism, Jan Breman shows how racial favoritism is no longer contained to ‘faraway, indigenous peoples,’ but has become a source of polarization within Western societies as well.
Author Bio
Jan Breman is professor emeritus of comparative sociology at the University of Amsterdam and an honorary fellow at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam.
