by Michael Angulo, Grant Chamness, Sean Gordon and Salome Tash
We will begin by starting with a case study of colonialism in the Belgian Congo. Colonialism is the explicit act of controlling a populace and its resources using colonies with the purpose of economic and political exploitation…These capitalist exploitations will prove to reverberate through time, and will manifest themselves again through neocolonialism and neoliberalism. To demonstrate the timeless and adaptive nature of these motivations, we will present a case study in which colonialism evolves into neocolonialism. Specifically, we will dissect how French colonialism naturally transformed into the neocolonialist, American occupation of Vietnam and ultimately the Vietnam War…In the last portion, we will outline the ways in which the exploitative practices of colonialism are now institutionalized at the international level, and how state actors have given significant power to transnational corporations. This system of corporate control, and the laissez-faire nature of world markets, is what enables powerful neoliberalist countries to continue the legacy of exploitation established by colonialism and neocolonialism. The actions of the International Monetary Fund, and World Bank, are instrumental in the institutionalization of capitalist driven exploitation.