Scramble For Africa Research Articles

Hinterland: The political history of a geographic category from the scramble for Africa to Afro-Asian solidarity

AbstractThis article traces the history of one geographical concept, hinterland, through changing political contexts from the 1880s through the 1970s. Hinterland proved a valuable tool for states attempting to challenge the global territorial order in both the Scramble for Africa and the postwar world of nation-states. In the context of German territorial demands in East Africa, colonial propagandists used hinterland to knit together the first longue-durée histories of the Indian Ocean to cast Zanzibar as a failed colonial power and win control of the coast. In the 1940s, Indian nationalists revived hinterland as a concept for writing about the Indian Ocean, utilizing the concept to link areas far from the ocean to an informal Indian empire that could be rebuilt to its premodern glory through naval expansion. In both contexts, hinterland provided a geographical framework to challenge British dominance on the Indian Ocean. The shifting meaning and usage of the term indicates continuities in territoriality between the Scramble for Africa and postwar internationalism.

Capital, empire and photography: evidence from the photo albums of colonial companies in Angola and Mozambique during the scramble for Africa

In the late 19th-early 20th century, Portugal entrusted the implementation of technological systems in its colonies in Angola and Mozambique to several private companies. These companies decided to preserve their activities through photography for posterity. In this article, I analyze four business albums from colonial firms, combining a semiotic methodology with concepts from the history of technology. I argue that photography, despite being advertised as an objective instrument to record reality, was extremely subjective, but that it took advantage of this alleged objectivity to create and strengthen myths, through the impact of its visuality. I also contribute to the debate on the importance of visual culture for colonial studies.

Hayton, D. W. Conservative Revolutionary: The Lives of Lewis Namier.

Hayton, D. W. <i>Conservative Revolutionary: The Lives of Lewis Namier</i>.

YORUBA ART MUSIC: FRONTING THE PROGENITORS

The bedrock of music genres in Africa today remains the traditional music. The westernformal music education embraced by African schools during and after the scramble forAfrica by the northern hemisphere has given ‘colorations’ to music genres both in theclassroom and the larger society. Its legacies are found more in popular music. The mostinteresting thing is that essence of music remains undaunted in the faces of all newformalities in the educational system. Music still lives on stage and not on paper. This paperemerges as a derivative of the Yoruba Art Music (YAM) festival premiered in 2015 at theUniversity of Ibadan, Nigeria. With bibliographical evidences and substantial interactionwith a non-Yoruba speaking music scholar this paper sufficed that the YAM festival is worthdoing and is capable of solving other attendant issues in music scholarship.

Banning the sale of modern firearms in Africa: On the origins of the Brussels Conference Act of 1890

The Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference in 1889–1890 agreed upon a sales ban of modern firearms for large parts of the African continent, a covenant that served joint imperial interests amid the ‘Scramble for Africa’. This article reconstructs the historical context in which the Brussels provisions came into being and explores the inter-imperial co-operation that paved the way for the agreement. To understand its origins, special attention must be paid to local events in East Africa and to a naval blockade that was executed here in 1888–1889. It was against this background that the German government, navigating between commercial and security interests, drafted the international control scheme that was later in large part adopted by the Brussels Conference. The article also demonstrates how in this context the issue of arms control was bound up with anti-slavery politics, thereby linking it to the imperial ‘civilising mission’.

The Failure of Cotton Imperialism in Africa: Seasonal Constraints and Contrasting Outcomes in French West Africa and British Uganda

Cash-crop diffusion in colonial Africa was uneven and defied colonizers’ expectations and efforts, especially for cotton. This study investigates how agricultural seasonality affected African farmers’ cotton adoption, circa 1900–1960. A contrast between British Uganda and the interior of French West Africa demonstrates that a short rainy season and the resulting short farming cycles generated seasonal labor bottlenecks and food security concerns, limiting cotton output. Agricultural seasonality also had wider repercussions, for colonial coercion, investment, and African income-earning strategies. A labor productivity breakthrough in post-colonial Francophone West Africa mitigated the seasonality constraint, facilitating impressive cotton output growth post-1960.

The Black Pacific and the Shapes of Global Black Power

The Black Pacific and the Shapes of Global Black Power

Integrating sub-Saharan Africa into a historical and cultural study of the Holocaust

ABSTRACT This article addresses some of the entangled histories and memories that connect the Holocaust to sub-Saharan Africa. It focuses on communications between British policymakers in London and colonial administrators in eastern and western Africa and what they reveal about efforts to resettle some European Jews in Britain’s colonial empire, between 1933 and 1945. Attention is paid to the emotions of Jewish refugees in Europe as they confronted the prospect of exile in Africa, the experiences of those who settled there, their interactions with indigenous Africans, and the impact of the Holocaust on European colonialism in Africa.

The “Big Survey”: Decolonisation, Development and the First Wave of NGO Expansion in Africa After 1945

This article sheds new light on NGO activity across Africa after the Second World War and the vital yet overlooked role played by non-state actors in the process of decolonisation. The International Council of Voluntary Agencies’ ‘Repertory of Africa’s NGOs’ (1968), analysed here for the first time, yields unprecedented insights into the ‘first wave’ of NGO expansion as an important aspect of the history of twentieth century international relations. We situate ICVA’s Repertory in the spate of ‘Big Surveys’ which questioned development policy and practice. We then examine the link between decolonisation and NGO expansion and evolution. Decolonisation was a global phenomenon, involving a wide array of non-state actors intent upon shaping the post-colonial world. The Repertory provides a stronger basis for the view that ex-colonial powers expected to retain close links with former colonies and colonial connections were replicated through NGO activities. Global history is not only a matter of empire, however. We further reveal how, already by the later 1960s, territorial pathways forged by colonialism were disrupted by international NGOs from countries with no history of imperialism in Africa, and how an expanding footprint of indigenous NGOs gave Africans the means to assert agency over development agendas and take back vital aspects of their own governance amidst ‘second wave decolonisation’.

'n Fenomenologie van rassisme: Hegeliaanse (wan)erkenning en die struktuur van koloniale bewussyn

Hierdie artikel neem Hegel se weergawe van die mislukking van wedersydse erkenning (dus wanerkenning) krities onder die loep met spesifieke fokus op die meester-slaaf-dialektiek. Hegel gee daarmee sy analise van 'n soort bewussynsontwikkeling wat lei tot vervreemde selfbewussyn in sowel die self as die ander (subjek en objek). Die proses wat hierdie soort bewussyn begrond, gee myns insiens 'n fenomenologiese beskrywing en verduideliking van die kognitiewe wortels van rassisme en geweld soos wat dit gemanifesteer word in 'n sogenaamde moderne koloniale mentaliteit (beide in die koloniale en die postkoloniale konteks). Dit bied met ander woorde 'n uiteensetting van hoe rassisme vorm aanneem in die selfbewussyn. Die moontlike wegbeweeg van rassisme na wedersydse erkenning word ondersoek met die doel om te sien hoe wanerkenning hanteer kan word (in die selfbewussyn). Dit word gedoen aan die hand van 'n model van Hegel se bewussynsteorie, wat verskillende soorte intersubjektiewe erkenning in breë trekke uiteensit. Die fokus van hierdie model is die wisselwerking tussen die dinglike en begripsaspekte van Hegeliaanse erkenning in die interaksie van die self (as subjek) met die ander. Hopelik kan hierdie model help om begrip te bevorder van hoe selferkenning, wanerkenning en wedersydse erkenning gepaard gaan met verskillende vorme van bewussyn. Teen die agtergrond van 'n koloniale bewussyn het wanerkenning en wedersydse erkenning 'n beduidende uitwerking op menslike verhoudinge. Fanon het dit verder belig met sy fokus op die rol van ras in die dialektiek en erkenning.

African Catholic: Decolonization and the Transformation of the Church

African Catholic is, at once, a historical, religious, political, and social treatise on French Catholic evangelization of Africa within the crucible of the obnoxious colonial project. This is a fantastic book, and so captivating that putting it down is difficult. It is a thoroughly well-researched, integrated bricolage of competing religious and social forces, woven beautifully together with the dexterity of an author possessing a mastery of navigating both the African and European terrains, as well as the ecclesiastical and sociopolitical climate of the day.Set at the height of French colonization of West and Central African countries between the 1940s and 1960s, this important book describes French activities in the colonies, with Catholic missionaries as its fulcrum. Positioned against this is the agitation of African Catholic intellectuals (laity and priests), with the support of liberal French clerics, to decolonize the Church, thereby exerting enormous influence on and making an invaluable contribution to Vatican II.What the author describes as the “Franco-African Catholic World” (6) at mid-century was characterized by competing powers and ideologies (colonization versus decolonization, imperialism versus independence, assimilation versus Africanization, racism versus negritude) and the pivotal role of religion, Catholicism to be precise, in the thick of it all. The question that loomed large on the minds of those at the center of the Church (the Vatican) was, how could the Church extricate itself from the trappings of colonialism under whose patronage it evangelized the world? This question was particularly important during the said period of increasing African rejection of European political and cultural control, impelled by the wave of independence sweeping across the African continent.French Catholic missionary activity in West Africa, as espoused by the book, was perceived as an arm of the colonial project. By means of its education to eradicate Africa’s “backward culture,” the Church would be said to be that instrument of change, par excellence. Consequently, some missionaries would paint a negative picture of Africa to promote the image of a dark continent in order to garner financial support from France in aid of missionary work upon which the so-called French civilizing mission depended. Perhaps some comparative analysis, in the book, with missionary activity in the neighboring British colonies in which members of the same missionary societies worked, albeit of different nationalities, would have substantiated the author’s argument even further regarding the agency of French missionaries in pursuing that goal.The ensuing tensions between the French state and the Vatican were inevitable. While the former sought to assimilate people in its colonial territories, profiting from the agency of missionaries to execute this task, the latter endeavored to insert such missionary territories into the one Catholic (universal) Church. This contestation would feed into Vatican II. Notable architects of French mission activities and cultural colonization, like Monsignor Marcel Lefebvre, “the most powerful French prelate in Africa for most of the postwar period” (7), would see Vatican II “as a betrayal and self-destruction of the church” (264). Whereas African Catholic intellectuals, such as Alioune Diop, saw in the Council a unique opportunity to infuse “African culture, values, and spirituality” (71) into the Church as a means to redeem both Africa and Europe. The quest of the latter group, and later Vatican II, was to see Christianity “incarnate itself in the cultures and civilizations of all peoples if it was going to be true to itself” (83). Herein lies what these Africans professed to be their “duty”: “to be the conscience of the church and confront its colonial hypocrisy, along with colonialism itself” (88).The reader gets the impression that the scramble for Africa was not the one-time episode of a well-executed partition in Berlin in 1884/85, but rather an incessant process sequestering the continent, with missionaries entrenching the political weal of Western powers. This is exemplified in the struggle between French Catholic missionaries and American Protestants that rendered Africa a playground of the West. The complex relations between Catholicism and Islam also receive a prominent place in the discussion, whether to build bridges or foment animosity between them.Noteworthy is the progress achieved through this struggle to the point of Vatican II emphasizing the recognition of the dignity of all peoples. Amidst the dwindling numbers in the Church in France, a touted reverse mission involving African migrants and clergy contributing to its vitality pays lip service to a total inclusion of Africans in the Church. The paternalism and blatant racism exhibited at both the mission and metropole are far from over.

The Tribal Conciliar Experiment and Marginalisation of Local Public Opinion in Botswana, 1948–1957

ABSTRACT Indirect colonial rule in Botswana differed from practice elsewhere in British Africa because of the involvement of local public opinion expressed through the long-practiced kgotla forum. This had something to do with the ‘voluntary’ way Botswana fell under British colonial rule in 1885. However, problems sometimes arose, with aggressive agitation against and even violent confrontation with agents of the British colonial system. Starting in 1947 the British had plans for decolonising much of their African empire by introducing ‘democratic’ tribal conciliar systems for running local governments. But there were no immediate plans to do the same for Botswana until widespread turmoil, starting in the late 1940s, led to the introduction of the tribal conciliar system, even though the Tswana dikgosi (chiefs) wanted a more powerful legislative apparatus. Using archival sources this paper demonstrates how this development marginalised popular participation through the open kgotla.

PROPERTY OWNERSHIP AND CORRUPTION: EFFECT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA

Pre-colonial communities occupying the space now known as Africa reflected “paradise on earth” having men of integrity, selfless, with focus on community development. The bonding of man with land and the invocation of land-based – spiritual powers allowed for easy enforcement of good morals and conduct in communities. The partitioning of Africa, with the break of the existing social-cultural bonding and the consolidation under colonisation of communities in Africa made communal bonding un-sustainable. The African ubuntu concept gave way, turning an average African a potential drain on his community under a “winner takes all” syndrome, just as he grabs property indiscriminately. The western legal systems introduce private property ownership, but the legal systems in practice record huge breaches of the rule of law, truncation of justice and development. The paper precisely investigates whether development in Africa can be attained based on legal systems foreign to Africa, rather than through indigenous legal tradition.

Hypochondria as a form factor: The role of colonial anxieties as shapers of buildings and urban spaces in British Africa

ABSTRACT The paper explores the role played by hypochondria, defined as the preoccupation with fears of having, or the idea that one has, a serious disease based on the person's misinterpretation of bodily symptoms, in the definition of buildings and urban spaces throughout the history of British presence in the tropics, with a special regard to the African continent. From the medical and hygiene experts to the army engineers and the establishment of Tropical Architecture the relationship with the climatic and health conditions of the tropical belt has triggered fears and anxieties that have often prevented the definition of solutions. This paper shows how the scientific attitude that has characterized the exploration and settlement of tropical areas has not been a steady process but rather a complex mix of fears, false truths, wrong beliefs and slow improvements.

Mapping the International System, 1886-2019: The CShapes 2.0 Dataset

This article introduces CShapes 2.0, a GIS dataset that maps the borders of states and dependent territories from 1886 through 2019. Our dataset builds on the previous CShapes dataset and improves it in two ways. First, it extends temporal coverage from 1946 back to the year 1886, which followed the Berlin Conference on the partition of Africa. Second, the new dataset is no longer limited to independent states, but also maps the borders of colonies and other dependencies, thereby providing near complete global coverage of political units throughout recent history. This article explains the coding procedure, provides a preview of the dataset and presents three illustrative applications.

Colonial Exceptions: The International Labour Organization and Child Labour in British Africa, c.1919–40

From 1919, the International Labour Organization sought to improve protections for workers globally. Concurrently, the organization was dominated by colonial powers whose economies relied on the exploitation of colonized workers. This article explores how the International Labour Organization navigated this contradictory situation during the interwar period, focussing on its approach to child labour in British Africa. The introduction of a universal minimum employment age and the abolition of child labour were founding goals of the International Labour Organization. However, colonial powers wanted to maintain the extensive employment of children and the use of child labour in their colonies. Britain used its influence within the International Labour Organization to promote racialized constructions of childhood and to pluralize working children’s rights in International Labour Organization instruments. While the International Labour Organization’s tripartite structure did also provide a forum through which colonial labour practices could be challenged, Britain and its supporters ultimately succeeded in constructing a two-tier system of international labour law which rendered colonized children less protected than children in the industrialized West. In creating colonial exceptions, the International Labour Organization pursued and promoted a hierarchical and exclusionary form of internationalism. Overall, the article provides new insights into the development of the International Labour Organization and its legislation, as well as broader histories of childhood and of internationalism.

Mostafa Minawi, The Ottoman Scramble for Africa: Empire and Diplomacy in the Sahara and the Hijaz

Book Review

Common-Pool Hierarchy: Explaining the Emergence of Cooperative Hierarchies

AbstractHierarchy in international relations has often been understood as an arrangement with a single dominant state controlling aspects of the subordinate actor's sovereignty. While such arrangements play an important role in structuring international politics, it does not exhaust the forms that hierarchy can take. Very often hierarchies have developed where multiple states jointly claim control of the same sovereign rights of the subordinate state. This paper introduces a new conceptualization of hierarchy where the sovereign rights of the subordinate state are understood as a resource that can be controlled by multiple dominant states. As with other resources, different types of property regimes can be developed to organize access and extraction of sovereignty, such as common property resources regimes. Finally, an explanation of common-pool hierarchy regimes is developed and explored using two case studies: European imperialism in the nineteenth-century China and the scramble for Africa.

The 'New Scramble for Africa' from a European Perspective: A Crisis of Chain Governance Similar to the 1970s?

The 'New Scramble for Africa' from a European Perspective: A Crisis of Chain Governance Similar to the 1970s?

Endogenous Colonial Borders: Precolonial States and Geography in the Partition of Africa

We provide a new theory and evidence on colonial border formation in Africa. Existing accounts highlight that Europeans unilaterally drew arbitrary international borders in ignorance of local conditions. We instead show that African border formation was a dynamic process that lasted for decades, and propose that self-interested Europeans faced incentives to learn about and adjust to realities on the ground. The rough boundaries of precolonial states and salient geographical features (rivers and lakes) created focal points for Europeans to form borders and settle disputes, and also created leverage for African chiefs to influence colonial borders. To test our theory, we compiled original spatial data on precolonial states. Using both grid cells and ethnic groups, we test hypotheses about precolonial states and water bodies. We also compiled extensive data from treaties and diplomatic correspondences to show direct evidence of the mechanisms. We conclude that the colonial states were largely artificial with respect to historical and geographic antecedents—yet the borders between these states were not.