Neocolonialism

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Neocolonialism (from ancient Greek νέος néos , German 'new' and colonialism ) is a term for the relationship between the states and corporations of the so-called First World and the Third World after the colonial empires dissolved in the 20th century.

Disambiguation

The term neocolonialism is used by some political groups. It is assumed that governments and companies in the rich industrialized countries - above all the USA , the EU and, in recent years, China - are trying to secure control over the resources, financial and goods markets of the poorer countries. The tools of this system are, for example, decisions about the granting or non-granting of loans or the granting of debt discounts . The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are particularly criticized .

The allegation against the IMF and World Bank is that countries are being forced by these organizations to take measures that primarily serve the interests of the rich countries, but that show little or no consideration for the development of the economies concerned - often with the result that the poverty of the population is even increasing. The Argentina crisis (1998–2002) or the so far (2004) largely unsuccessful negotiations on the opening of the US and EU markets for agricultural products from African countries can be cited as examples (see Agricultural Market Organization and Common Agricultural Policy ).

Another consequence of this one-sided economic policy is stated that the investments of multinational corporations , often accompanied by tax and labor law benefits for the investors, generate profits only for a few people in the countries concerned, while the majority of the population cannot benefit from them. On the contrary, the internationally operating companies use the low wages and social standards and also sometimes cause great ecological damage (effects of oil production in Nigeria , deforestation of tropical forests to extract precious wood , extraction of mineral resources, storage of toxic waste ).

So while these countries are being used as reservoirs for cheap labor and raw materials, sustainable development and access to modern technologies and production methods are prevented at the same time. The World Food Organization FAO warns of neo-colonial conditions if rich countries with too little arable land such as B. Saudi Arabia looking for plantations in impoverished countries.

The installation and support of regimes, including numerous dictatorships in Africa and earlier also in Latin America , which serve the interests of multinational corporations and not the interests of the people living in these countries (see e.g. Operation PBSUCCESS ) is also considered neocolonialism . It also includes control of reporting on these countries.

The Christian mission in developing countries is partly related to neocolonialism . Toby Luckhurst referred, among other things, to imperialist forms of missionary work and the continuation of colonial tradition through mission, also in connection with the collaboration of evangelical missionaries with raw material companies in the Amazon. The abandonment of the traditional values ​​of the indigenous peoples is encouraged by missionary work; this leads to a declining independence of the groups and to new dependencies on the new religion and thus also on western culture.

development

Neocolonialism is to be distinguished from colonial revisionism, which appeared around the Weimar and Nazi era and promoted the restoration of former colonial empires . The term, on the other hand, first found widespread use following the dissolution of the earlier colonial empires after the Second World War and was initially mostly used in connection with African countries. Politicians and activists in the newly independent countries complained that their countries have now become victims of a new kind of colonialism , practiced by the former colonial powers and other wealthier nations. In particular, France was - and is sometimes to this day - accused of pursuing a neocolonialist policy and, if necessary, even using military operations to ensure that its interests are not threatened.

Independence movements in countries still under the control of European states also adopted the concept of neocolonialism in their arguments. Examples of this are the Marxist , anti-colonialist organizations FRELIMO and MPLA in Mozambique and Angola, which were controlled by Portugal until the 1970s .

At the beginning of the 2000s, the debt situation of many African countries towards the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank is cited as evidence of neo-colonialism : Each year these countries pay more money to the IMF and WB than they receive in loans from these organizations, which makes economic development and the establishment of health or education systems largely impossible. This dependence on further loans and the need for debt relief are forcing the countries concerned to agree to programs prescribed by the international organizations. In accordance with WTO principles, these programs generally consist first and foremost of privatization and the opening of markets to investors. The consequences are the sale of commercial operations and infrastructure to foreign companies, i.e. a further loss of independence and a further deterioration of the health and education systems, which are often underdeveloped anyway.

Jeffrey Sachs , advisor to the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on economic and development issues , expressed himself in this spirit when in 2004 he called for complete debt relief (around 200 billion US dollars) for the African countries and called on the governments concerned to easily stop the payments to the IMF and WB if they did not agree:

“The time has come to end this charade. The debts are unaffordable. If they don't cancel the debt, I would recommend blocking; do it yourself. Africa should say, 'Thank you very much, but we need this money to meet the needs of our children who are dying today. So instead of paying the debt, we will put the sums into urgent social investments, health, education, drinking water, AIDS control and other necessities. "

Critics of the IMF point to studies on the effects of the devaluation of currencies required by the Monetary Fund as a requirement for loans to finance debt settlement. They argue that while the IMF is calling for national currencies to be devalued, it also insists that loans should be repaid in US dollars , British pounds , euros , yen or other relatively hard "First World" currencies. This would further increase the debt, make repayment impossible and keep the countries in debt and neo-colonialist dependence.

China's investments in African infrastructure - especially Nigeria - are also being pejoratively referred to as neocolonialism by some Western politicians .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Der Spiegel 48/2008, p. 142
  2. ^ Toby Luckhurst: Missionaries: Serving God or playing God? In: BBC . November 28, 2018, accessed February 5, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Martin Petzke: Weltbekehrungen: To the construction of global religion in Pentecostal-evangelical Christianity. transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8394-2241-0 . Pp. 345-351.
  4. ↑ See e.g. B. France's interests in Mali on the Deutsche Welle website
  5. ↑ Africa 'should not pay its debts' , BBC News , July 6, 2004 (own translation).