The Legacy of Colonialism

Abstract

In the previous chapter, some significant and morally challenging implications of colonial rule were presented. The point of departure of this chapter is the question of how colonialism and imperialism shaped the present global structure. The primary question is: How were the present poor former colonies affected by the fact that they were colonized by foreign powers for hundreds of years? Did it accelerate their development or was it an obstacle to their progress? The secondary questions are: How did the exploitation of the colonies affect development in the now wealthy nations? Were colonialism and imperialism important for their development or did they play only a minor role? Both these questions are highly controversial and, needless to say, experts in the field are far from unanimous. Hence, my aim is to review some of their answers and discuss the implications for my main question in this book: Is there is a valid argument for rectificatory justice after colonialism and imperialism?