Colonialism, religion and the other: The case of Spanish colonialism

This dissertation deals with the relationship between religion and colonialism in the context of Spanish colonialism. In the research, the conceptual analysis and historical background of the phenomenon of colonialism and religion, the use of religion as a means of legitimation as a Holy Umbrella in colonialism, Other-othering as the intersection of colonialism and religion, and the relationship between Spanish colonialism and religion in the historical context are examined under three headings. First, in order to understand colonialism, religion, Other, violence, power and legitimation, these concepts are analysed through theoretical discussions and the relationship between colonialism and the Other is discussed. Then, the historical process of the relationship between Spanish colonialism and religion in Latin America is analysed. Here, the policies of the Spanish Kingdom and the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America regarding the use of religion as a sacred umbrella to legitimise and institutionalise colonialism and slavery are discussed. In the relationship between colonialism and religion, inferences are conveyed about the instrumentalisation of religion for the purpose of consent production and thus contributing to the learning of the institutionalisation of colonialism. In addition, the encomienda economic system, which is one of the means of legitimisation and institutionalisation, and the functioning of plantations are also discussed, and the subject is evaluated through different arguments. Therefore, this study seeks to answer the questions of whether the main purpose of Spanish colonialism was the spread of Catholic Christianity or the instrumental use of religion for economic, cultural and ecological exploitation, and by which means the coloniser legitimises the violence inflicted on the colonised by othering the colonised. When we look at the findings that emerged while searching for answers to these questions; religion was used 287 as an ideological apparatus in the institutionalisation of Spanish colonialism and the production of social consent. In the use of religion as an ideological apparatus, it is understood that the Roman Catholic Church and missionaries from many Christian sects were the main actors in the legitimisation of this colonialism. On the other hand, religion was instrumentalised with the understanding of a sacred umbrella that both institutionalised and legitimised Spanish colonialism and provided invisibility for the policies of violence, including the genocide that the Spaniards inflicted on the peoples of Latin America, and provided protection against criticism. In addition, it is seen that the Spanish invasion and exploitation of Latin America was legitimised by art, theatre, literature and history-writing, which are the products of the Eurocentric form of knowledge production based on an Orientalist view of modernity, and assimilation was legitimised under the thesis of "discovery" and "civilization" of the indigenous people. In addition, this study discusses that religion can be a motivational tool for liberation not only in the context of instrumentalising religion in the legitimisation of colonial policies, but also in the liberation process of Latin America and afterwards.