neocolonialism

neocolonialism, the control of less-developed countries by developed countries through indirect means. The term neocolonialism was first used after World War II to refer to the continuing dependence of former colonies on foreign countries, but its meaning soon broadened to apply, more generally, to places where the power of developed countries was used to produce a colonial-like exploitation—for instance, in Latin America, where direct foreign rule had ended in the early 19th century. The term is now an unambiguously negative one that is widely used to refer to a form of global power in which transnational corporations and global and multilateral institutions combine to perpetuate colonial forms of exploitation of developing countries. Neocolonialism has been broadly understood as a further development of capitalism that enables capitalist powers (both nations and corporations) to dominate subject nations through the operations of international capitalism rather than by means of direct rule.

The term neocolonialism was originally applied to European policies that were seen as schemes to maintain control of African and other dependencies. The event that marked the beginning of this usage was a meeting of European heads of government in Paris in 1957, where six European leaders agreed to include their overseas territories within the European Common Market under trade arrangements that were seen by some national leaders and groups as representing a new form of economic domination over French-occupied Africa and the colonial territories of Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The agreement reached at Paris was codified in the Treaty of Rome (1957), which established the European Economic Community (EEC), or Common Market.

Neocolonialism came to be seen more generally as involving a coordinated effort by former colonial powers and other developed countries to block growth in developing countries and retain them as sources of cheap raw materials and cheap labour. This effort was seen as closely associated with the Cold War and, in particular, with the U.S. policy known as the Truman Doctrine. Under that policy the U.S. government offered large amounts of money to any government prepared to accept U.S. protection from communism. That enabled the United States to extend its sphere of influence and, in some cases, to place foreign governments under its control. The United States and other developed countries also ensured the subordination of developing countries, critics argue, by interfering in conflicts and helping in other ways to install regimes that were willing to act for the benefit of foreign companies and against their own country’s interests.

More broadly, neocolonial governance is seen as operating through indirect forms of control and, in particular, by means of the economic, financial, and trade policies of transnational corporations and global and multilateral institutions. Critics argue that neocolonialism operates through the investments of multinational corporations that, while enriching a few in underdeveloped countries, keep those countries as a whole in a situation of dependency; such investments also serve to cultivate underdeveloped countries as reservoirs of cheap labour and raw materials. International financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank also are often accused of participating in neocolonialism, by making loans (as well as other forms of economic aid) that are conditional on the recipient countries taking steps favourable to those represented by these institutions but detrimental to their own economies. Thus, although many people see these corporations and institutions as part of an essentially new global order, the notion of neocolonialism sheds light on what, in this system and constellation of power, represents continuity between the present and past. See also dependency theory.