Abolitionism and Self-government. Dantès Bellegarde’s Participation in the Temporary Commission on Slavery of the League of Nations

Abstract

In 1924, the League of Nations created a Temporary Commission on Slavery. For the first time in the organization’s history, a black person, the Haitian Dantès Bellegarde, was called to form part of a commission as an expert. This article explores Bellegarde’s role on the Commission. The Haitian expert showed himself to be the most radical of the members of that body. Although imbued with the hierarchical and evolutionary ideas in which all the work of the League was framed, Bellegarde was able to offer a serious critique of the colonial government, rarely heard at the League, centered on the issue of denouncing forced labour. In doing so, Bellegarde demonstrated a deep commitment to follow through on the promises of liberal internationalism about the need to enable colonial subjects, particularly in Africa, to develop their capacities for self-government.