settler colonialism

noun

: colonialism in which people from a colonizing nation or state migrate to an area and establish a settler colony that functions to extend and maintain the colonizing power's control over the area

Settler colonialism, by definition, advantages settlers over Indigenous peoples, and this deluge rapidly alienated millions of acres from tribes such as the Cherokee …

—Ned Blackhawk

Greed, status and state-building are the key dynamics animating settler colonialism, and these dynamics can be found everywhere.

—Lachlan McNamee

Due to the seriousness of Oromo resistance to slavery and colonialism, it took over 30 years to establish Ethiopian settler colonialism and its institutions in various Oromo regions.

—Asafa Jalata

settler colonialist noun

or settler-colonialist

ˈse-tᵊl-ər-kə-ˈlō-nē-ə-list 

ˈset-lər-,

-nyə-list

plural settler colonialists or settler-colonialists

European settler colonialists

settler colonialist adjective

or settler-colonialist

a settler colonialist state

settler-colonialist policies

Examples of settler colonialism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In part, the dominance of beef in American cuisine can be traced to settler colonialism, a form of colonization in which settlers claim – and then transform – lands inhabited by Indigenous people. —Hannah Cutting-Jones, The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2024

The true cost of a burger Policies encouraging settler colonialism ultimately led to more sedentary lifestyles and a dependence on fast, convenient and processed foods – such as hamburgers – regardless of the individual or environmental costs. —Hannah Cutting-Jones, The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2024

Adam Kirsch: The false narrative of settler colonialism Beneath the essay’s unremitting argument runs a set of powerful and convergent emotional forces, among them the shame and guilt Coates declared nearly a year ago and reiterates in The Message. —Daniel Bergner, The Atlantic, 24 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above