What’s (Fundamentally or Per Se) Wrong with Colonialism: A Reply to Agrawal and Buchanan

Abstract

Ritwik Agrawal and Allen Buchanan argue that the fundamental wrong of colonialism is a denial of autonomy to those who are colonized. They claim that earlier discussions of colonialism, including those by Lea Ypi, Anna Stilz, and Massimo Renzo, mischaracterize the fundamental wrong of colonialism as something else. I argue that Agrawal and Buchanan incorrectly charge Ypi, Stilz, Renzo, and others with looking for the fundamental wrong of colonialism. The goal of these thinkers is instead to articulate the per se wrong of colonialism, which is a separate question. I also argue that Agrawal and Buchanan do not identify the fundamental wrong of colonialism, because paradigmatic cases of wrongful colonialism fail to instantiate the wrong that Agrawal and Buchanan label fundamental.