Application of the theory of imperialism developed by Lenin to centre-periphery relationships within a country. The Leninist theory of imperialism argued that an imperialist country exported the exploitation of the proletariat to its colonies, or to other undeveloped countries whose terms of trade it could control; therefore the proletariat of the colonizing country were ‘bought off’ or subsidized by the proletariat of the exploited countries. Internal colonialism uses the same argument to account for the development of rich and poor regions within a country. Although the best-known such attempt—that by Michael Hechter (Internal Colonialism, 1975) to explain relationships between England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland—is only patchily supported by the evidence (it fits Ireland well and Scotland badly), the idea of internal colonialism remains fruitful. Robert Blauner (Racial Oppression in America, 1972) used the concept to describe race relations in the United States and elsewhere.
Internal colonialism
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Internal Colonialism refers to political and economic inequalities between regions within a single society. The term may be used to describe the uneven effects of state development on a regional basis and to describe the exploitation of minority groups within the wider society. The relationship between colonizer and colony is similarly unequal and exploitative in colonialism and internal colonialism. An internal colony typically produces wealth for the benefit of those areas most closely associated with the state, usually the capital area. The members of the internal colonies are distinguished as different by a cultural variable such as ethnicity, language, or religion. They are then excluded from prestigious social and political positions, which are dominated by members of the metropolis (Abercrombie et al., 2000:183). The main difference between neocolonialism and internal colonialism is the source of exploitation. In the former, the control comes from outside the nation-state, while in the latter it comes from within. One of the pivotal publications on the subject is Michael Hechter's Internal Colonialism: The Celtic Fringe in British National Development (1975). Sergio Salvi, a poet, essayist, and historian of minority languages, had used the term "internal colonies" in the cultural sense in Le nazioni proibite: Guida a dieci colonie interne dell'Europa occidentale (The forbidden nations: Guide to ten internal colonies of western Europe) (1973), among which he included Catalonia, Scotland, Brittany and Occitania.
See also
References
- Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephan Hill, Bryan S. Turner (2000). The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 4th edition. London: Penguin Books.
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