Neo-Colonialism and Patterns of Migration: The Indian Diaspora in Uganda

Abstract

Despite the collapse of the imperial world system in the 19th and early 20th centuries, colonialism still plays a major role in dictating international relations and the exploitative relationship between the Global North and Global South. Neocolonialism operates as the silent offspring of colonialism, influencing the development of global policy with the intent to maintain the colonial world order, prioritizing the economic and political prowess of former imperial powers, namely the United Kingdom and its Western offshoots, and perpetuating the exploitation of former colonies and disenfranchised global communities. Patterns of diasporic migration reveal the machinations of neocolonialism under the present world system. This paper aims to reveal how neocolonialism influences patterns of diasporic migration, creating push factors that structurally disenfranchise marginalized communities that were often colonized under the imperial system. This paper utilizes an analysis of the Indian community in Uganda, evaluating the conditions of the initial Indian migration to Uganda, the escalation of racial tensions prior to Ugandan independence, the formation of independent Ugandan citizenship policy, and the resettlement of the community after Idi Amin’s 1972 expulsion order to explain the mechanisms by which neocolonialism pervades the patterns of diasporic migration.