The Fabianisation of the British Empire: Post-War Colonial Summer Conferences and Community Development in Kenya, 1948–1956

Abstract

This article examines the influence of the Fabian Society on post-war colonial development from 1948 to 1956. This study demonstrates that a primary vehicle for the ‘Fabianisation’ of the British Empire was the Cambridge Summer Conference series, particularly the conference convened in 1948. Held on the encouragement of initiative in African society, the conference devised a policy framework of community development based on a model of mass education long favoured by Arthur Creech Jones, secretary of state for the colonies and former chair of the Fabian Colonial Bureau (FCB). This article also looks at the practical outcomes of that influence through a case study of community development in Kenya. It demonstrates that, despite Creech Jones' appointment as secretary of state for the colonies, severe challenges remained for the realisation of Fabian-favoured designs, including those posed by inertia and resistance in the territories, which emanated from both colonial officialdom and indigenous populations. Moreover, the findings indicate that the fulfilment of British development goals was critically dependent on the translation of those goals through the medium of indigenous cultural institutions. While the findings attest that ‘Fabianisation’ during this period produced tangible development projects that concretely impacted social welfare in the colonies, the results suggest an ambiguity surrounding the relative success of ‘Fabianised’ development. The findings indicate that ‘Fabianisation’, dependent upon the processes of negotiation that transpired between the African communities being ‘developed’ and the agents responsible for change, and the ability of those agents to inspire and motivate the indigenous populations, was at best partial.