Editing Decolonization (section)

{{Short description|Undoing political, economic and cultural legacies of colonisation}}
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{{About|the undoing of colonialism|medical interventions|Decolonization (medicine)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
[[file:Descolonización - Decolonization.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Countries by date of [[List of sovereign states by date of formation|independence]]]]

'''Decolonization''' is the undoing of [[colonialism]], the latter being the process whereby [[Imperialism|imperial]] nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas.<ref>Note however discussion of (for example) the Russian and Nazi empires below.</ref> The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on [[Separatism|independence movements]] in the [[Colony|colonies]] and the collapse of global [[colonial empire]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book| title = International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences |last = Hack |first = Karl |publisher = Macmillan Reference |year = 2008 |isbn = 978-0028659657 |location = Detroit |pages = 255–257}}</ref><ref>
John Lynch, ed. ''Latin American Revolutions, 1808–1826: Old and New World Origins'' (1995).
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As a movement to establish independence for colonized territories from their respective [[Metropole|metropoles]], decolonization began in 1775 in [[American Revolution|North America]]. Major waves of decolonization occurred in the aftermath of the First World War and most prominently after the Second World War.

Critical scholars extend the meaning beyond independence or equal rights for colonized peoples to include broader economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the colonial experience.<ref name=":6">{{cite book |last1=Betts |first1=Raymond F. |title=Beyond Empire and Nation |date=2012 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-26044-3 |pages=23–37 |chapter=Decolonization a brief history of the word |doi=10.1163/9789004260443_004 |jstor=10.1163/j.ctt1w8h2zm.5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Corntassel |first=Jeff |date=2012-09-08 |title=Re-envisioning resurgence: Indigenous pathways to decolonization and sustainable self-determination |url=https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/18627 |journal=Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |issn=1929-8692}}</ref> Extending the meaning of decolonization beyond political [[independence]] has been disputed and received criticism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Táíwò |first=Olúfẹ́mi |title=Against decolonisation: taking African agency seriously |date=2022 |publisher=Hurst & Company |isbn=978-1-78738-692-1 |series=African arguments |location=London}}{{pn|date=August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kurzwelly |first1=Jonatan |last2=Wilckens |first2=Malin S |date=2023 |title=Calcified identities: Persisting essentialism in academic collections of human remains |journal=Anthropological Theory |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=100–122 |doi=10.1177/14634996221133872 |s2cid=254352277 |url=https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2967871 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Naicker |first=Veeran |date=2023 |title=The problem of epistemological critique in contemporary Decolonial theory |journal=Social Dynamics |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=220–241 |doi=10.1080/02533952.2023.2226497 |s2cid=259828705 }}</ref>