Colonialism and Racialization: Regulation of Mixed-Race Intimacies

Document Type

Book Section

Publication Date

7-2025

ISBN

9781032473154

DOI

10.4324/9781003385547-3

Abstract

Racial hierarchies that shape intermarriage are rooted in histories of colonialism. Initially, European traders arrived with plans to extract natural resources and make handsome profits for shareholders. Often, a right of sexual conquest was seen as part of the entitlement to capitalize on local riches. In addition, relationships with native women could cement alliances with indigenous peoples, who could provide valuable expertise and assistance to newcomers. Later, when colonial governments sought to build long-term settlements, officials typically frowned on intermarriage as a threat to social order and stability. To justify restrictions on relationships across the color line, authorities invoked morality, eugenic science, and fitness for citizenship. Extensive monitoring and harsh punishment gave force to bans on interracial sex and marriage. Even after colonies gained independence, regimes that policed race mixing exerted powerful influence. Some independent nations continued to enforce anti-miscegenation laws, and images of racial hybridity and degeneracy justified new quests for territorial expansion. Reverse migration of the formerly colonized also disrupted norms about intermarriage in colonizing countries. The legacy of these dynamics persists to this day.

Num Pages

13

Publisher

Routledge

Editor

Shivon Raghunandan, Roy Moodley, & Kelley Kenney

Book Title

The Routledge International Handbook of Interracial and Intercultural Relationships and Mental Health

Link to Full Text
Buy This Book

Share

COinS