This paper is interested in the wrong of colonialism. This is often theorized in terms of structural injustice and relations of domination and subordination (Ypi, Lu). I do not deny that this is part of the wrong of colonialism, but I also want to examine whether, in some cases, the wrong of colonialism ought to include the taking of land and/or territory from the original inhabitants. In order to make this argument, this paper will inter alia distinguish between two quite distinct contexts to which the term colonialism is applied; between different types of wrongs in these different kinds of colonialism; between cases of necessity and cases where there is no necessity; and between different kinds of cases and different kinds of relations between people and land. Various cases will be examined to pinpoint when the taking of land/territory can constitute a wrong, and what kind of wrong it is.
