European Colonial Terrorism and the Incorporation of Africa into the Capitalist World System

Asafa Jalata, University of Tennessee - Knoxville

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Paper Presented at the 5th International Conference of Sociology, May 9-12, Athens, Greece

Abstract

This article critically explores the essence and characters of European colonial terrorism and its main consequences on various African peoples during racial slavery, colonization, and incorporation into the European-dominated capitalist world system between the late 15th and 20th centuries. It employs multidimensional, comparative methods, and critical approaches to explain the dynamic interplay among social structures, human agency, and terrorism to critically understand the connections among terrorism, the emergence of globalization, and African underdevelopment. The piece focuses on four central issues: First, it conceptualizes and theorizes terrorism to clarify its roles in creating and maintaining the global system. Second, it focuses on the first wave of European colonial terrorism that was practiced via racial slavery by focusing on the dialectical connections among various forms of violence and genocide to demonstrate the process of enslaving and merchandising Africans. Third, the chapter deals with the second wave of European colonial terrorism by focusing on the process of colonizing of the whole continent by violently destroying African peoples and their institutions to enrich European colonialists and their African collaborators and their governments and companies.