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The Fabianization of the British Empire: Postwar Colonial Summer Conferences and Community Development in Kenya and Uganda, 1948-1956

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The Fabianization of the British Empire: Postwar Colonial Summer Conferences and Community Development in Kenya and Uganda, 1948-1956 Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2017 The Fabianization of the British Empire: Postwar Colonial Summer Conferences and Community Development in Kenya and Uganda, 1948-1956 Joseph M. Snyder Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Snyder, Joseph M., "The Fabianization of the British Empire: Postwar Colonial Summer Conferences and Community Development in Kenya and Uganda, 1948-1956" (2017). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7133. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7133 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Fabianization of the British Empire: Postwar Colonial Summer Conferences and Community Development in Kenya and Uganda, 1948-1956 Joseph M. Snyder Dissertation Submitted to the College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Joseph M. Hodge, Ph.D., Chair Robert M. Maxon, Ph.D., Co-Chair Nicholas K. Githuku, Ph.D. Tamba M’bayo, Ph.D. James Siekmeier, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2017 Keywords: Fabians, Fabian Colonial Bureau, Colonial Development, Community Development, Mass Education, Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, Uganda Protectorate Copyright 2017 Joseph Michael Snyder ABSTRACT The Fabianization of the British Empire: Postwar Colonial Summer Conferences and Community Development in Kenya and Uganda, 1948-1956 Joseph M. Snyder This dissertation examines the influence of the Fabian Society on Britain’s postwar colonial development regime between 1948 and 1956. This study demonstrates that a primary vehicle for the “Fabianization” 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-favored by Arthur Creech Jones, former chair of the Fabian Colonial Bureau (FCB) and then Secretary of State for the Colonies. While the findings of this study attest that Fabian influence (“Fabianization”) 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 “Fabianized” development. The findings indicate that “Fabianization,” dependent upon the processes of negotiation which 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, even in ideal circumstances. This study demonstrates that, despite Creech Jones’ appointment to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for the Colonies, severe challenges remained for the realization of Fabian- favored designs. The most intransigent of these hindrances included the sterling crisis of 1947 and that posed by inertia and resistance in the territories, which emanated from both colonial officialdom as well as the indigenous populations. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would never have been able to finish my dissertation without the guidance of my committee members, generous help from academics, archivists, and librarians in the UK and the US, and support from my husband. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dissertation supervisor and committee co-chair, Dr. Joseph M. Hodge, who has, over the past several years, patiently guided and nurtured my research, and for providing me with an atmosphere conducive to research. I would also like to thank Dr. Robert Maxon, committee co-chair, not only for helping me to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between British Imperial History and Modern African History, but for also instilling in me the determination to seek out the African voice in my work. Special thanks go to Dr. James Siekmeier who, as an expert in US Diplomatic History, provided invaluable insight into the inner-workings of US foreign policy and the Truman Administration’s cooptation of development as a tool in its Cold War ideological arsenal against the Soviets. I would also like to express my appreciation to Dr. Tamba M’bayo for his thoughtful consideration and input, particularly his guidance on “unpacking” my methodological approach and helping me to assess my sources in a new critical light. Finally, I am deeply grateful to Dr. Nicholas Githuku, who has, since the beginning of my graduate career, been a constant source of support and inspiration to me and who, at the very last moment, generously agreed to serve on my committee. This dissertation would not have been possible without the collaboration of many people in the UK, including Dr. Billy Frank, whose encyclopedic knowledge of the British Labor Party and its complicated relationship with colonial development is matched only by his love of rock and roll. Proof that many lessons can be learned over chips and ale. Likewise, I sincerely appreciate the help of Dr. David Stewart who, in the space of a single afternoon, helped me to understand the connection between J. Ramsay MacDonald’s departure from the Labour Party and the subsequent deepening of trade union involvement in the party’s internal affairs in a way I’d never considered before. I would also like to thank Darren Treadwell, archivist at the Labour History Archive and Study Center, not only for pointing me in the direction of the J. S. Middleton Papers and making himself available to me long after I departed Manchester, but also for being an unparalleled raconteur whose many stories punctuated long hours of archival research with much-needed levity. Many thanks also to Barbara Sakarya of University College London’s Institute of Education Library, whose spirit of willingness and eagerness to assist led me to a researcher’s Valhalla, squirrelled away in the basement of the IOE. Finally, I would like to thank my husband and partner, Eli Baker. To say that my completion of this dissertation has as much to do with his patience and forbearance as with my own work hardly does him justice. Thank-you for standing by me through it all. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv List of Abbreviations vi INTRODUCTION 1 Dissertation Method 4 Significance of the Research 6 “Fabianization” 8 Sources 12 Summary Review of Relevant Scholarship 13 Outline of Chapters 31 CHAPTER 1: 1880s-1899 On the Origins and Early Evolution of Fabianism: Ideological Refractions of Late- Victorian England’s Reformist Zeitgeist—from the Socialist Revival to Social-Imperialism 34 Introduction 34 Fabian Origins: In the Beginning— The Supernatural and the Fellowship of the New Life 36 Changes Afoot: Radicalism, the Socialist Revival, and Early Fabianism 42 The Fabians and Fin-De-Siècle Britain: The Tumultuous 1890s 56 Conclusion 81 CHAPTER 2: 1900-1939 From “Benevolent Passivity” to Policy Architect: The Ebb and Flow of Fabian Fortunes— From the British Labour Party to the New Fabian Research Bureau 84 Introduction 84 The South African War and British Socialists: The Fabians, the SDF, and the ILP 86 The Fabians and Labour: Beginnings and Distractions 95 The Fabians “On the Threshold” 104 The New Fabian Research Bureau and the Next Generation of Fabians 113 “A Marriage Arranged”: Amalgamation and the Revival of the Fabian Society 123 Conclusion 127 CHAPTER 3: 1929-1944 From Imperial Trusteeship to Mass Education in African Society: A Study of Fabian Perspectives and Influence on Colonial Development Policy through the Second World War 129 Introduction 129 The Fabians and “Trusteeship”: Evolving Perspectives on Empire 133 The Colonial Development Crucible: v The Crisis of the West Indies, Hailey’s African Survey, and the CDWA (1934-1941) 147 The Fabian Colonial Bureau under Arthur Creech Jones: Labour’s Nestor in a Wartime Coalition Government 156 From Mass Education in African Society to the Model Cooperative Societies Ordinance: Case Studies in Fabian Influence on Colonial Policy during the Second World War 164 Adult and Mass Education Policy 165 The Model Cooperative Societies Ordinance 174 Colonial Development Interrupted: The Sterling Crisis of 1947 181 Conclusion 188 CHAPTER 4: 1948-1956 On Colonial Summer Conferences and Community Development in Kenya and Uganda: Case Studies in the Fabianization of the British Empire 190 Introduction 190 The Fabianization of the British Empire: Fabians and the 1948 Colonial Office Summer Conference on African Administration 197 Mass Education in Context: Case Studies of Postwar Social Welfare and Community Development in Kenya and Uganda 213 Kenya 213 The Machakos Betterment Scheme 229 Uganda 235 Introducing Community Development in Uganda 240 Cohen’s Joint Community Development and Local Government Regime
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