The Economics of Slavery, Colonization, and Neo-Colonization: A Critique of Global North–South Relations

This article critically examines the structural relationship between the Global North and Global South. It argues that slavery, colonization, and neo-colonialism are interconnected stages within a single global capitalist system designed for perpetual extraction and value transfer. Using a qualitative historical-structural methodology, the analysis traces the persistence of exploitation. It highlights the slave trade’s role in financing industrialization and analyzes contemporary mechanisms like debt imperialism, profit repatriation, and green colonialism. The study synthesizes classic dependency theory and contemporary peer-reviewed research on global value chains, philanthrocapitalism, and climate finance. This positions its critique within a broad academic context. Through comparative case studies from Africa, Latin America, and Asia, the paper shows how extractive trade patterns, asymmetric financial governance, and ideological hegemony continue to replicate colonial hierarchies. While the paper engages with reformist perspectives, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), it finds these efforts are limited by entrenched structural barriers. The article concludes by proposing a transformative "Economics of Liberation" framework. It advocates for policy changes, including debt justice, South–South financial architectures, strategic industrial bargaining, and epistemic decolonization, as essential to genuine sovereignty and a break from dependency.