Title
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of this Version
10-2013
Publication Source
The Oxford Handbook of Modern African History
Start Page
151
Last Page
170
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199572472.013.0008
Abstract
This chapter sketches a history of European colonial states in Africa, north and south of the Sahara, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explains when and why colonial states emerged, what they did, how they worked, and who shaped them. Noting discrepancies between the theory and practice of colonial administration, the chapter shows that colonial administration was far more diffuse and less closely coordinated than official discourses of governance suggested. The performance of colonialism involved a wide range of actors: not only European military and civilian elites and African chiefs, but also African translators and tax collectors, as well as European forestry experts, missionaries, anthropologists, and settlers. The chapter also considers debates over reconciling the violence and exploitation of colonial states with their claims to, and aspirations for, social development in Africa, particularly in light of their relationship to the postcolonial states that succeeded them.
Copyright/Permission Statement
Copyright © Oxford University Press, 2013
Keywords
colonialism, imperialism, nationalism, postcolonialism, development, labour control, colonial states, colonial conquests, migration
Recommended Citation
Sharkey, H. J. (2013). African colonial states. In J. Parker & R. Reid (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of modern African history (pp. 151-170). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Included in
African History Commons, Diplomatic History Commons, European History Commons, Labor History Commons, Political History Commons
Date Posted: 04 November 2015
This document has been peer reviewed.