Book Review: African Perspectives on Colonialism
The multifaceted nature of African Perspectives on Colonialism by A. Adu Boahen is one of its greatest strengths as a historical overview. Boahen analyzes 19th and 20th century colonialism from a variety of African and European national's perspectives. He examines the influence of the slave trade, the negative view of Blackness and native religions in the cultural worldview of Christian missionaries, the economic value of colonial dominion of Africa for Europe, as well as details the devastating impact of colonization upon the African continent, despite some European historian's claims that it had both positive and negative effects.Boahen begins his introduction to his work by noting: "The most surprising aspects of the imposition of colonialism on Africa were its suddenness and its unpredictability," given the growing independence of many African nations in the years preceding the widespread domination of Africa. (p.1) With a fact that is surprising to a modern reader, accustomed to hearing about Africa in ways that are prima
1) However, the corresponding development of industrialization in the West created a demand for markets over which those nations had exclusive monopolies. rily defined by its history colonialism and its relationship with the West, Boahen points out that in 1880, Africa was relatively independent. 56; 94) The span of European dominion over Africa lasted a relatively brief hundred years, as after the Pan-African movement of the 1970s, the majority of African nation had regained their sovereignty and independence from the "one-handed bandit" of colonialism. For its brevity, focus, and balance, this book gets an A. But even without this incentive provided by the colonial powers, Africa was already developing as an economic power, and by creating an arbitrarily defined geographic smattering of new nations; colonialism ultimately stymied stable economic development, because a long-term political, centralized authority could not be established in these new ill-defined nations. Black nationals did not even have access to the same educational, residential, and sanitary accommodations as their European counterparts, in their own lands. Also, it showed signs of economically developing in a way that would integrate it fully into the international community. 16) Missionaries welcomed the intrusion of colonialism, as they saw it as a critical part of establishing a Protestant work ethic or expanding Christian influence in the population. It is also valuable because of the perspective it is able to provide on colonialism for the Western reader, demonstrating how Africa's colonial dominion by the West has not been as long-standing as one might believe. 95) The forty-eight new states of Africa were defined not by previously existing tribes or kinship structures, which left the continent open to civil war, creating an environment rife with conflict and multinational states difficult to unify under a centralized government. Boahen persuasively demonstrates that the impact of colonialism, however brief its duration, was of little positive benefit to Africa, although he does raise this oft-cited argument, and notes that colonialism may have speeded up the development of an economic infrastructure in Africa, on a certain crude level. The slave trade had been replaced by more conventional economic methods of international exchange of natural goods.
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Africa Europe,
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