A whole series of colonial models was brought back to the West, and the result was that the West could practice something resembling colonization, or an interna

A whole series of colonial models was brought back to the West, and the result was that the West could practice something resembling colonization, or an internal colonialism, on itself I keep thinking a lot of today's identity politics are the direct result of colonialism and its racial hierarchies. A lot of post-Apartheid South Africa's affirmative policies transferred some of the priviledges of the former whites to the groups that Apartheid had marginalized, but the legitimacy of identities developed by a colonial system were never really questioned. (Saying this as a coloured man, who still can't see how such a category could ever be considered meaningful). You could even say that affirmative action evolved as a kind of colonial science of imperial management. Following brutal colonial repression and subsequent rebellion in the late 19th century European empires adopted a softer type of rule that - on the surface - provided more advantage or more recognition to colonized people. Japan itself learned the technique from Europe and implemented a similar ruling style for its Empire until WWII, giving more visibility to Manchu, Koreans... and representing itself as a multicultural Empire. A historian called the USSR the "Affirmative Action Empire"[0] because this was their preferred way to maintain control over minorities while giving them the sense that they could "make it" in the Soviet Union. I think affirmative action dates back to the 60's in the US, which follows its rise as a global empire with the Japanese occupation, Korean War, Vietnam War and influence over South America... [0]https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Affirmative_Action_Empire.html?id=rdlSX2hsb1kC https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Affirmative_Action_...