Settler colonialism and the nuclear family

Written by Adrianna Hines

The concept of the nuclear family is historically rooted in colonization. European expansionists, who were looking to plant permanent roots in resettlement societies overseas, brought with them their strong “craving for family centered independence (Phillips, 2009, p. 240).” A consequence of this was the sexual homogenization enforced by these settlers on indigenous populations. Nineteenth century British settlements in West Africa, for example, saw a complete overhaul of the diverse marriage practices that appeared too “casual and slippery (Phillips, 2009, p. 244 )” from a British perspective. So, missionaries were enlisted for moral reform and they actively pushed Christian marriage on the local community, while governors standardized and defined the institution of marriage in order for it to be legally recognizable. The regulation of marriage in colonial societies led to the legal persecution and social exile of those who deviated from these moral centers. As Fouccult hypothesizes, sexuality became an “especially dense transfer point for relations of power (Phillips, 2009, p. 242).”  Individuals became obsessed with avoiding scandal, so they did not dare transgress norms of respectability surrounding sexual purity, especially since fitting into society was lucrative and afforded social power to the obedient. As a result, Heterosexual marriage has become so naturalized that it is rarely interrogated and the topic of sex and gender is labeled taboo. As Julia Cream explains, “We need to know how space is shorn of its association with sexuality…Sexuality is so often hidden away in the upstairs of homes, behind closed doors, or in the upper reaches of the disciplinary house. We need to expose the ways in which it has been excluded and obscured. (Phillips, 2009, p. 242)”

Bibliography:

Phillips , R. (2009.). Settler colonialism and the nuclear family – phillips – 2009 – the … 

Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1541-0064.2009.00256.x