It is within the ideology of Orientalism that colonialism will first be considered. The colonizers are depicted as the advanced civilization, while the colonized are depicted as backward nations. Racial and cultural differences are the markers and boundaries used to subordinate. The West is associated with superiority, and the East is represented as primitive, weak, and in need of salvation. The native and the woman are objectified and seen as lacking, further justifying the bases of relationships of domination and submission.
Colonialism is sustained by an intimate relationship with education, imperialism, and capitalism.
The principles of patriarchy, racism, and sexism function together to center power with men and with white people. These principles are the roots of unequal power relationships and clarify how certain groups came to be subordinated. The will to claim and control what is different is the main tenet of colonialism. It is purposed and determined by human desire and intention, and we are all implicated. We participate in our own oppression in complex and contradictory ways.