← Back to catalogue
Research draft

colony

vr.tr.colony · PHY.PLC

Let an agent describe colonies and colonialism with historical accuracy and balance, attribute perspectives, cover decolonisation and legacies, and separate biological and other senses.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent describe colonies and colonialism with historical accuracy and balance, attribute perspectives, cover decolonisation and legacies, and separate biological and other senses.

A territory under the political control of a distant state, or a settlement established by people from another place, from ancient Greek colonies to modern colonial empires in the Americas, Africa and Asia; colonialism has been a central subject of history, law and politics, with decolonisation reshaping the world in the twentieth century.

What it is for: Understanding a form of political control and settlement in history.

It can be describe a specific colony and its history; explain colonial systems and decolonisation; attribute perspectives of colonised and colonising peoples; separate other senses of colony.

Distinguishing features

Control by a distant state

Settlement or administration

Historical and contested

Legacies persist

What it looks like

Not physical; historical territories, shown on maps.

How it is recognised

Territories governed from elsewhere

Colonial administrations and settlements

Biological colonies are groups of organisms

Related models

is a kind of - category

dependent territory

is a kind of - category

region

is related to - colonising polity

empire

is ended by - process

decolonisation

In practice

Families and kinds

colonies in antiquity

settler colonies

administrative colonies

protectorates and dependencies

remaining non-self-governing territories

Standards and regulation

UN Charter chapter XI on non-self-governing territories

UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples

Failure modes and hazards

One-sided narratives

Erasing colonised peoples perspectives

Confusing senses

Also called

FellaghaItalian North AfricaGreek colonycolonies in antiquityConquista do ParáItalian Africacrown colonyoverseas territories of Japanforeign concession in ChinaGenoese coloniesdominion of SwedencleruchyStato da MàrFrench colonial empirePortuguese EmpireBritish colonial empireVerwantschapslandenBrandenburg colonial empireAustrian coloniesproprietary colonyScottish colonization of the AmericasIlha de Vera CruzEnglish overseas possessionplantationself-governing colonyRoman colonyItalian EmpireLatin colonycolonia augustaMiddle ColoniesSouthern Coloniesforeign concession in HankouShanghai concessionJapanese concession

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Also registered as vr.tr.colony-group

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

History A specific colony.

Sources and attribution.

Facts

Establishment and rule.

Facts

Facts.

  1. When and how was this colony established and governed, according to historians? provenance
  2. Who lived there before, and what happened to them? provenance

Perspectives

Voices.

Perspectives

Perspectives.

  1. How do descendants of colonised peoples and of colonisers describe this history? provenance
  2. Are both attributed rather than one presented as neutral? boundary
Systems Colonialism.

Systems differed.

Types

Kinds of colonies.

Types

Types.

  1. Was this a settler, administrative or trading colony, and how did that shape it? definition
  2. How did it differ from ancient Greek colonies? definition

Resistance

Resistance and independence.

Resistance

Resistance.

  1. Which movements resisted colonial rule, and how are they described by different sources? provenance
  2. How did independence come about? provenance
Legacy After empire.

Legacies persist.

Decolonisation

Process.

Decolonisation

Decolonisation.

  1. How did decolonisation unfold here, and what does the UN list of non-self-governing territories say today? provenance
  2. Which territories remain, and what do their peoples say? provenance

Debates

Current debates.

Debates

Debates.

  1. What debates exist over reparations, restitution and memory? provenance
  2. Are positions attributed neutrally? boundary
Senses Disambiguation.

Colony has other senses.

Biology

Biological colonies.

Biology

Biological sense.

  1. Is a colony of organisms, such as bacteria or birds, meant? boundary
  2. Which entry fits? action

Other

Artist and penal colonies.

Other

Other senses.

  1. Is an artist colony, penal colony or space colony meant? boundary
  2. Which entry fits? action

What the second pass must settle

  • Should each colony be a separate entry?
  • How should perspectives be attributed?
  • How should current territories be handled?