Internal Colonialism and Oligarchic Domination from Inter-Ethnic Conflicts

The theory of internal colonialism systematized by authors such as Pablo Gonzalez Casanova and Immanuel Wallerstein even in the 1960s is important for postcolonial and decolonial studies. Such theory contributes to broadening the social class marker, including others such as ethnicity and nationality that help explain the complex dynamics of conflicts and social pacts. Internal colonialism makes a great contribution to the understanding of ethnic disputes between indigenous peoples and colonizing elites, as is evident, for example, in the cases of Mexico, Ecuador, and Bolivia. However, it seems to us that this theory is equally important to explain the system of oligarchic domination. This suggestion makes sense when we understand that oligarchies in postcolonial societies are ethnic groups that organize power and control patrimonial assets from blood, family, and color identifications. It seems to us that the crisis of countries like Brazil and others in Latin America can be clarified when we understand that behind the economic and political question there is an important ethnic dimension in the structuring of power and conflicts. The racism generated by ethnic practices explains the impossibility of the invention of a republican pact necessary to promote social rights to inclusion and egalitarian citizenship.