Settler society

Settler society is a society founded after the conquest of another society. It is a theoretical term in the early modern period and modern history that describes a common link between modern, predominantly European, attempts to permanently settle in other areas of the world. It is used to distinguish settler colonies from resource extraction colonies. The term came to wide use in the 1970s as part of the discourse on decolonization, particularly to describe older colonial units. White settler societies established by European powers in the Americas, Africa, and Australasia developed systems of white racial dominance. These societies became key places for the development of racist theories and practices, even producing their own theorists like Samuel George Morton in the United States, who argued for the separate species of Black people. Experiences of colonization in Australia, including efforts to "civilize" Aboriginal people, also contributed to the development of polygenism theories, which posited separate origins for different human "races."