Colonial Economic Policy Research Articles

From Wild Palm to Plantation System: A Trajectory of Colonial Policies on Palm Oil Production in Annang, Nigeria, 1900-1960

This paper examines colonial economic policies and the oil palm production in Annang, of Calabar Province of Nigeria from 1901-1960. Before the establishment of colonial rule, the people of Annang were engaged in the production of wild oil palm for domestic use. The colonial period witnessed the introduction of plantation system for the cultivation oil palm trees and production of palm oil for export. Annang produced large quantities of palm oil and thus contributed greatly to colonial economy. In spite this, the contribution of Annang to colonial economy has over the years been treated as as an appendage to the Ibibio colonial historical experiences. The neglect is what this article attempts to correct. Oil palm tree, has a long history in Annang, especially as most its byproducts served both domestic and commercial needs of the people. This article examines Annang unique experiences during colonial period in the light of the fast-developing interest in micro studies in Nigerian historiography. It therefore focuses on the colonial policies on palm oil production, especially the various measures formulated and implemented in Annang from the inception of British colonial rule in Annang in 1901 to 1960 when Nigeria attained independence. It adopts the historical method, relying extensively on primary sources obtained from oral interviews and archival sources to interrogate palm oil production in Annang during the period under consideration. Keywords: Oil palm Trees, Palm Oil, Plantation System, and Colonial Policies.

Institutions as Images of Political Authority and Power Hierarchies: Understanding Land Tenure Dynamics of State-making in Zimbabwe and Uganda

The intricate link between political power and land rights is a historical axiom and Zimbabwe and Uganda present two conflicting yet analogous situations of what happens in agrarian societies, where socio-economic life is organised around access to and use of land. In such communities, institutions of land tenure are powerful mediums that shape political relations, electoral choices and the whole landscape of political interactions that happen in rural communities. This article seeks to examine how the post-colonial state in Zimbabwe and Uganda deliberately and systematically manipulated ‘insecure’ land tenure regimes by deploying institutions as instruments of political control and relevance. We argue that while the British coloniser framed the two counties differently, that is Zimbabwe as a settler colony and Uganda as a native colony, post-colonial land tenure regimes in the two countries were framed as institutional configurations purposefully designed and redesigned by national leaders as instruments of building state authority, organising the rural masses politically and shaping state-citizen allegiances. In this context, we argue that the land reforms in both countries perpetuated economic and regional disparities, inherited from colonial economic policies, and the ethnic and racial divisions, as foundations of state-making. In that regard, the connection between land and political authority may appear delinked and far-fetched, yet, as the Ugandan and Zimbabwean cases illustrate, there is compelling evidence to confirm this contention.

1910년대 한반도 중북부 지역 상점 상인의 존재형태와 동향

Based on the list of stores listed in the appendix to the “Chosun Commercial comprehensive book”, this paper examines the existence and trends of store merchants in the 1910s. The store merchant in the “Chosun Commercial Comprehensive Book” were largely emerging merchant forces, who differed from traditional merchants. The first characteristic that is noteworthy in the existence of store merchants in the 1910s is the bias by industry. Looking at the composition of the detailed industry, four types, commission agency business, general store, trade store, and cloth store, accounted for about 71% of all commercial-based stores. In the case of industrial-based stores, manufacturing pharmacies and shoe manufacturing stores accounted for nearly half of all handicraft stores. This industry bias phenomenon was due to the survival strategy of Korean commercial and industrial capitalists to respond to the impact of colonialism. The second characteristic that is noteworthy in the existence of store merchants is that there were several types surrounding the supply and demand of products and sales channels. It can be classified into five main types. First, the type that is produced in Chosun and sold in Chosun. Second, the type that is produced in Chosun and sold to Japan. Third, the type that is produced in Chosun and sold to China. Fourth, the type that is produced in Japan and sold to Chosun. Fifth, the type that is produced in China and sold to Chosun. It can be seen that small and medium-sized capitalists were also gradually dividing their economic existence due to colonial economic policy. Meanwhile, some of the store merchants have expanded their economic activities by establishing modern companies or factories or investing in other industries such as mining and agriculture based on the capital earned from store management. This aspect can be said to show that the path of personal economic growth was not completely impossible even for small and medium-sized capitalists, at least until this period.

Colonial Economic Policies in East Africa. A Case Study in Uganda During Colonial Period

This research investigates East African colonial economic policy, using Uganda as a case study. Following the introduction of Europeans in East Africa, policies aimed at assisting their administration in the region were developed. The colonial economy in Uganda was largely centered on cash crop cultivation and other extractive sectors, while local economies and peoples were neglected. Local communities were displaced from their land, which was subsequently exploited for cash crop cultivation as a result of the policies. In this study, documentary analysis was utilized as a research approach, which entailed evaluating written or recorded records to analyze social phenomena in East Africa's colonial economy .This resulted in the extinction of traditional livelihoods and the devastation of local economies.The colonial rulers also instituted a forced labor system, which was employed to construct infrastructure like as roads and railways.Uganda is still affected by colonialism, and correcting the inequalities and injustices brought about by these economic practices would need a concerted effort.The article finds that colonial economic policies in East Africa had a considerable influence on the region's economy and society, and that colonialism's legacy may still be felt today.

Colonial Legacies and Their Implication to Marriage Relations among the Gusii of Kenya (1895-1960)

This paper examines the legacies of colonialism using Abagusii, a community in western Kenya, as a case study. Firstly, the paper briefly summarizes the key aspects of Abagusii marriage relations in pre-colonial society. It then defines colonialism in the context of Gusii and examines the effects of invasion, the spread of western ideals, the influence of western education, and missionary interactions in the highlands. The research also looks at how colonial economic and social policies affected marriage relationships. The main contention made in this essay is that pre-colonial and colonial social-political and economic dynamics, in combination, have shaped and continued marriage ties across time

Being World Power and Economic Utility: The Economic History of Germany’s African Colonies

As a late colonial power, Germany was seeking to conquer territories in Africa and Oceania in the last third of the 19th century. The two major purposes for founding colonies were 1) to reduce the immigration of Germans to America; and 2) to represent the young German nation state as a mature power, which can compete with the United Kingdom (called simply England in the historical sources) and with the despised Western neighbour France. The most important lobby and pressure group of German colonial aims was the German Colonial Society (Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft), a group of widely respected intellectuals, influential businessmen and politicians. After the accession on the throne of Emperor Wilhelm II, the colonial lobby became more influential, and the process of colonial expansion was accelerated. Nevertheless, there was an Achilles’ heel in this policy: gaining territories did not seem to be profitable in the short term. Thus, theorists and propagandists of colonization, such as Paul Rohrbach, published papers about possible measures that could have made the colonies financially fruitful territories. This thought remained vivid in the National Socialist era as well: Germany’s right to have colonies was explained on the base of the need for raw materials and the overpopulation of the German fatherland. This study has been written for the purpose to summarize the colonial economic policy of the German Kaiserreich and to briefly explain the economic plans of National Socialist German state regarding Germany’s former colonies in Africa.

From empowerment to disempowerment? The changing role of women in the colonial agricultural economy of Okunland, Kogi State, Nigeria

This study examines the changing role of women in the agricultural economy of Okunland occasioned by the transition from the pre-colonial arrangement to colonisation. Opinions are divided in the literature on the gendered processes in relation to colonial agricultural economy in most of Africa. The first thinking is that women lost power and economic autonomy as a result of discriminatory colonial policies. The second thinking suggests that the residual role of women in the agricultural economy was a product of choice rather than a deliberate colonial policy. The third maintains that women were economically active and productive but were unable to claim the proceeds of their labour. In Okunland, while women were prominently involved in the agricultural economy in the pre-colonial period, they appeared to be relegated to playing a residual role during the colonial period, leading to disempowerment. The data for this study were generated using the primary and secondary sources. While the primary sources involved the use of interviews, the secondary method involved the use of archival and documented materials. The data were analysed using thematic descriptive analysis. The study finds that the residual role played by women in the agricultural economy of colonial Okunland could be attributed to British colonial economic policies which generally favoured the men.

COMMERCE, MERCHANTS AND MARKETS IN THE BRAHMAPUTRA VALLEY c. 1800-1900

Trade and commerce in the Brahmaputra valley of colonial Assam is understudied. This paper attempts to study the trade and commercial activities in the valley while keeping in mind the transition from pre-colonial to colonial rule. The late Ahom sources do not speak purposefully about trading activities in the valley. Early colonial sources term the region as backward and averse to trade. The valley came under colonial rule in 1826 with the Treaty of Yandabo. Were the first few decades of the nineteenth century in the Brahmaputra valley backward in matters of commerce? How different was the latter half of the nineteenth century? Analysis of Ahom chronicles, archival sources, and personal papers available in the National Archives of India has helped in finding structural changes in trade and commercial activities in the valley in the century under study. These findings help in understanding the nature of colonial economic policy and present economic structure of the region better.

Beyond Utilitarianism: Nineteenth Century South Asian Economic Crises and Sleeman’s (1788-1856) Necessitarianism

Emerging out of eighteenth-century enlightenment, utilitarianism led a view of earth and human centric economic view of society, resulting not only in the formation of theories of racial superiority and legitimacy of imperialism, but also in the development of modern theories of economy grounded in Adam Smith (1723-1790), Malthus (1766-1834) and Recordo (1772-1823). However there were a few people those tried to fix the challenges beyond utility into the concept of instinctual and evolutionary necessity or priority. Sleeman (1788-1856) was one fundamental exponent of the theory against tyrant colonial economic policies to plunder the colonial subjects and destroy the colonized political elites. He not on challenged the Recordian theory of Revenue but also tried to convince the colonial policy makers for the development of a policy of agriculture, industry and taxation and revenue based on and keeping in considerations the needs and necessities and priorities of the colonized subjects.

Import Control under Regionalism in Colonial Nigeria, 1954-1960

The colonization of Nigeria by the British opened a new vista in the history of the country as various ethnic groups came under the British system of administration. Parts of the colonial administrative structures included, native courts, native authorities, native treasuries and protectorates. Historians, political scientists, sociologists, economists and scholars of various disciplines have through their works, interrogated Nigeria’s colonial past. Indirect rule system, colonial infrastructure, the rise of nationalism, currency circulation, colonial system of banking, colonial system of education and exploitation of Nigeria’s resources are typical examples of Nigeria’s colonial experience. Similarly, scholars have made attempts at interrogating various aspects of the country’s colonial history. These include, colonial agricultural policies, colonial export control policies, marketing boards, trade restrictions, politics of decolonization, politics of transfer of power, constitutional developments, regionalism, nationalist movements, colonial tariff system and issues that deal with Nigeria’s economic development in the colonial period. These intellectual efforts have not beamed their searchlight on how import control in an era of regionalism was used as one of the strategies of decolonization before the country’s independence. Thus, the interrogation of a history of import control as an integral part of decolonization seems to have been neglected. It is against this backdrop that this paper interrogated import control as colonial economic policy which aided the entrenchment of regionalism in Nigeria. The paper in its conclusion argued that import control under regionalism was one of the strategies used by the colonial government in the devolution of some of its economic powers to the regions through constitutional framework.Key Words: Nigeria, Colonialism, Regionalism, Import Control

Origins of Sub-Saharan African Varieties of Capitalism and Implications for Development Policy

The Varieties of Capitalism approach is applied to Sub-Saharan African economies, and a proposition is made. It is argued that the state of underdevelopment and the legacy of colonial economic policy are characterized by several key structural and business-environmental conditions which makes market institutions to emerge as the predominant form of recourse (relative to private sector non-market institutions) for managing economic transactions and solving coordination problems, and which create extreme LME-type outcomes. However, the state of underdevelopment is also characterized by structural inadequacies which distort the forms and efficiency of these market institutions and thus limit aggregate efficiency. The size and coordinative capacity of private-sector non-market institutions is structurally limited to overcome these problems. The state thus emerges as a major compensating, facilitating and/or substituting actor in economic affairs. Yet, the possibility of government failure lurks to derail the success of such state compensation, thereby leading, in the worst cases, to more neo-patrimonial forms of capitalism.

The Dutch Colonial Economic Policy: Coffee Exploitation in Tapanuli Residency, 1849–1928

The Dutch Colonial Economic Policy: Coffee Exploitation in Tapanuli Residency, 1849–1928

Entangled histories

Abstract In this article I investigate changing household labour relations and women’s work in the Dutch empire. I question how colonial connections affected the division of work between men, women, and children, not only in the colony – the Dutch East Indies (i.c. Java), but also in the metropolis – the Netherlands. Entanglements can be found in the influences of colonial economic policies on both colony and metropolis, as well as in the more indirect effects of colonial exploitation and taxation, and, finally in the sphere of sociopolitics and ideologies. I will analyse the entanglements between the Netherlands and Java in these domains, comparing similarities and differences, but also paying attention to the connections and transfers between both parts of the Dutch empire. Although some of the conditions and developments were highly specific to the Dutch empire, I aim to show that the method of comparing and establishing direct and indirect connections between different parts of an empire can lead to new insights that can also be applied to other parts of the world and different time periods.

British War-Effort Programme and the Making of the Land Degradation Narrative in Colonial Western Kenya

Most of the scholarship on colonial environmental policies in Africa focuses on how African communities were cast as culprits for environmental problems that plagued rural Africa. This interpretation overlooks ways in which colonial policies led to problems such as land degradation. This article demonstrates how exigencies of the Second World War elicited British colonial agricultural and labor policies amongst the Abaluyia community in western Kenya that exacerbated soil erosion. The analysis contributes to our understanding of how colonial economic policies and international crises contributed to the evolution of the colonial degradation narrative within the British Empire, and Africa in particular.

Exploring the Role of Trade and Migrations in Nigeria-Ghana Relations in the Pre-Colonial and Colonial Periods

Long before Ghana and Nigeria became independent countries in 1957 and 1960 respectively, peoples of both countries have had rewarding contacts. These involved inter-group relations in the political, economic, religious, cultural, administrative and recreational fields of human endeavour. Of these facilitators of inter-group relations, the two most outstanding elements that defined their relations before and during the colonial period were trade and migrations. The basic theme of this paper is therefore to document the nature and form of this trade network facilitated largely by the Hausa’s and Yoruba’s of Nigeria and the Akan peoples of the Gold Coast during the period of this study; and how the booming trade contact and colonial economic policy motivated great inter-state migrations between the two countries during the colonial period. The paper further explores the various motivations for inter-state migrations between the two countries in the pre-colonial and colonial periods.Key words: Trade, Migration, Intergroup relations, Nigeria, Gold Coast

Beyond the Colonial State: Central Bank Making as State Building in the 1930s

The purpose, origin, and strength of the Central Bank of the Philippines remain a puzzle for students of the Philippine political economy. Trade policy and fiscal policy have been well studied within the theoretical framework of a weak state, but the politics of monetary policy have curiously been overlooked. As it happens, the bank enjoyed an excellent reputation as “an island of state strength.” This paper sheds new light on the politics of economic policies by arguing that monetary policy introduced a new type of politics in the 1930s. This was a period during which a network of Filipino policy makers emerged and became an incubator for other leading policy makers in the early years of the Republic of the Philippines. Established politicians such as Manuel L. Quezon and American colonial officers paid scant attention to monetary policy reform, while these policy makers shouldered the responsibility of policy proposals. Their proposal to establish a central bank went beyond the monetary policy mandate, because they aimed to depart from the conventional market-governed colonial economic structure to a managed currency system backed by economic planning. By focusing on their attempts, this paper reveals that while the emergent crop of Filipino policy makers were beneficiaries of the colonial state, they were not satisfied with colonial economic policies and worked toward building an independent state equipped with qualified institutions.

British Colonial Economic Policy in Nigeria, the Example of Benin Province 1914 - 1954

The establishment of British colonial administration brought the introduction of cash crops economy to Nigeria- as elsewhere in Africa. In line with the British colonial policy of providing raw materials for the industries of the metropolitan power, Nigeria witnessed the downplay of the importance of the indigenous economic system which made each family self-sufficient in food and other socio-economic needs. Through a deliberate policy of discouraging food crop cultivation, most clans and communities were gradually rid of food supplies and thus introduced into acute hunger in favour of the cultivation of cash crops needed by British industries. Local governments were used as agents of this destruction of the indigenous food crop economy and the vigorous pursuance of the new economic policy. This work focuses on this role of the local government authorities, with the local government in Benin Province as a case study.

Herbert Frankel: From Colonial Economics to Development Economics

Herbert Frankel (1903–96) was an economist of long and varied achievement, who, after a distinguished career in South Africa, served as Oxford University's first Professor of Colonial Economic Affairs (later Professor of the Economics of Under-developed Countries) from 1946 to 1971. His professional route took him from colonial economics to development economics, making a significant contribution to each. His intellectual trajectory took him from being a critic of colonial economic policies to being a champion of the efficacy of free market liberalism to deliver development. In this he was a true precursor of the counter-revolution in development economics of the 1980s. In a number of ways his writings were prophetic, but it was a younger colleague, Peter Bauer, who became the main standard-bearer of neo-liberalism in development economics.

Bridewealth, guns and other status symbols: immigration and consumption in colonial Douala

The flow of money and goods mediated public life within the urban immigrant community of colonial New Bell, Douala. The exchange of money was a prominent mode of communication between immigrants, as was the consumption and display of certain goods, but both of these practices were largely influenced and restricted by colonial economic policy and cultural sensibilities. At the same time, the local interpretation of the cultural meaning of colonial money and consumer goods in New Bell at times contradicted and confounded colonial intentions, replacing them with local conceptualizations. This investigation into money and consumption in the immigrant quarter reveals that the public space of New Bell was bridged by visual, performative and passing gestures, all articulated in the street. Money and goods determined the boundaries of the immigrant community, as well as membership and participation in that community, but the controlling hand of the colonial administration over money and imported products reminds us that the immigrant community sprang up in the shadow of colonial hierarchies of power. Immigrants attempted to reinvent, rebuild, and dismantle these hierarchies through consumption, but as will be seen, these efforts met with limited success.

Malaysia´s Illegal Indonesian Migrant Labour Problem: In Search of Solutions

The long-term, undocumented migration flow of Indonesians into Malaysia is arguably the second largest flow of immigrants after the movements across the U.S.-Mexico border. The issue of the migration of Indonesian Labour to Malaysia has been a persistent source of friction in Malaysia-Indonesia relations for the past twenty years. The latest round of protests by Indonesian politicians, the media, and the public in response to harsh laws recently enacted by Kuala Lumpur against foreign workers threatened once again to plunge bilateral relations into another downward spiral of animosity and diplomatic sabre-rattling. Tensions have been exaggerated by the securitization of the Indonesian migrant problem by the Malaysian media and certain government officials. Given the vast number of Indonesian labourers in Malaysia and the crucial role they play in the Malaysian economy, unless the root causes of this problem are acknowledged and addressed coherently by both parties, the i ssue of Indonesian migrant labour will continue to be an obstacle to better bilateral ties. The regular recurrence of the problem of Indonesian labour migration into Malaysia and the elusiveness of viable solutions has opened the way for scholarly research to be undertaken to illuminate the fundamental issues involved that impede the search for solutions. Be that as it may, there remains a paucity of scholarship that attempts to study the social, political, economic, and diplomatic undertones to a problem that has emerged as one of the most enduring problems for contemporary Malaysia--Indonesia relations. Most studies that have been done on this subject have taken two forms. Some have devoted much effort at listing the social-economic problems arising from the influx of Indonesian labourers, and in particular economic migrants, into Malaysia. (1) Others have studied the geographical and demographical dimensions to this problem, focusing on the origins of these Indonesian illegals, the problems they encounter in making their way to, and finding employment in, Malaysia, and the exploit ation that they are forced to undergo as a result of their status. (2) Few have attempted to place the Indonesian migrant problem in the broader historical context of political trends in Malaysia--Indonesia relations, or to make recommendations on the crucial issues that need to be addressed in the search for solutions. (3) It is in this regard that this study considers the political undercurrents to the phenomenon of Indonesian labour in Malaysia. The article seeks to explore: (1) the evolution of the so-called illegal Indonesian migrant worker problem, (2) the various unilateral and bilateral attempts at finding a solution, (3) some possible considerations that should be taken into account in this search for solutions, and (4) the underlying problems which have impeded, and might continue to impede, progress towards a comprehensive resolution based on the interests of both states. Origins of Indonesian Migration into the Peninsula Migration from the Indonesian archipelago to the Malay peninsula has long been a feature of the interaction and exchange that defines the identity of the Indo-Malay World. Malay historical records such as Sejarah Melayu, Hikayat Hang Tuah, and Sejarah Melayu dan Bugis (otherwise known as Tuhfat al-Nafis) document the movement, via both trade and war, of peoples across the Indo-Malay archipelago and how cultures crossed as a consequence of this. In the more recent colonial past, British and Malay authorities in the peninsula also welcomed migrant workers from Indonesia to meet the manpower requirements of colonial economic enterprise. (4) Because of shared racial and to some extent cultural traits, Indonesian migrant workers were favoured by the Malay aristocracy and royalty in the nineteenth century as demographic buffers against the influx of Chinese and Indian labour that was occurring under colonial economic policy. …