I remember when I was first learning about settler colonialism, I thought to myself: “Huh, this sounds like Taiwan and Israel” My instincts were correct on Israel, but I never looked too deeply into Taiwan. The fact that the Kuomintang displaced the Austronesian natives is a pretty strong indicator, but is Taiwan really a settler colonial state or are my intuitions wrong?

  • Munrock ☭@lemmygrad.ml
    1·
    21 days ago

    I think we might just have a completely different view of settler colonialism here if you think settler colonialism predated capitalism. Settler colonialism is not mere demographic change though settler colonialism always leads to demographic change,

    Just casting a very wide net for all the different definitions I’m used to getting.

    Considering that the Han ethnic group started settling Taiwan long before the advent of capitalism, and that the island has no significant natural resources to pilfer/extract, I think you can safely conclude that it’s not a settler colony.