Orientalism precedes and authorizes colonial rule rather than excusing it after the fact.

Evidence

To say simply that Orientalism was a rationalization of colonial rule is to ignore the extent to which colonial rule was justified in advance by Orientalism, rather than after the fact. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 127

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharpens the direction of causal flow: colonial rule is justified in advance by the Orientalist framework, not rationalized afterward.
• XREF: This one-way causal claim (discourse enables rule) prefigures Foucault’s power-knowledge and postcolonial critiques of justification-after-the-fact.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 127