ABSTRACT

The immediate associations of colonialism are with intrusions, conquests, economic exploitation and the domination of indigenous peoples. Not surprisingly, colonialism has received a great deal of attention from anthropologists (e.g. Asad 1979; Wolf 1982; Thomas 1994; Peps 1997) and historians (Dirks 1992; Cohn 1996) who have been concerned with both the lessons to be drawn from the histories of modern colonialism and the implications for the future. Moreover, while earlier studies focused more on the political and economic conditions of exploitation, recent work has shifted to the study of colonial cultures and ideologies both in the role these played in masking or rationalising forms of oppression and in constituting colonial relationships (Thomas 1994).