Colonial Societies

Colonial society is not a traditional form of society, but in this section we are looking at the starting point for societies around the world before they began the transition to modern nation-states. This makes it impossible to ignore colonial society. At the peak of imperial expansion during World War II, more than half the world’s land and people were part of some large empire. In the great implosion of empires that occurred after the war, these colonies quickly became independent.

In the more productive colonies that had a large native population, the imperialists functioned much like aristocrats. They were a small ruling class with a monopoly of political power. Many of the native people were essentially much like peasants. They produced agricultural commodities such as sugar, tea, spices, and rubber—which the imperialists took and shipped to foreign markets. There were also many colonial areas that produced little of value. In these areas, imperialism was a thin veneer that overlaid a native society, which at heart retained most of its traditional tribal or aristocratic character.

After World War II when the imperial age ended, most of the colonists returned home, and the native people suddenly found themselves to be citizens of brand new nations. In Europe most nation-states arose through a long, violent revolutionary process. In the colonial world statehood came relatively quickly. Unfortunately, the modern revolution from traditional society to a market economy nation-state does not happen that easily. In many cases, the newly independent countries were modern nations in name only. In reality they were still predominantly tribal or aristocratic societies. These countries are now squarely in the middle of the very long and difficult revolutionary process that will eventually convert them into modern nation-states.