The Ends of European Colonial Empires “It Is Perhaps Surprising That Decolonisation Has Remained Stubbornly Resistant to Theorisation
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“In this collection two ambitious Portuguese scholars assemble an impressive cast of contributors to rethink the demise - or reconfiguration - of European power in Africa. Eschewing morality Cambridge Imperial & Post-Colonial Studies plays and polemics for historical analysis, the authors add nuance and complexity to the decolonization, the most important phenomenon of 20th century history - making their book essential reading for the growing number of students interested in this crucial topic.” – David C. Engerman, Brandeis University The Ends of European Colonial Empires Colonial European of The Ends “It is perhaps surprising that decolonisation has remained stubbornly resistant to theorisation. The Ends of Comparative analysis offers a means to redress things, making this collection especially valuable to researchers and students alike. Interrogating the meanings of decolonisation, its local and global implications, and its material consequences – both foreseen and unforeseen, the essays in this collection complement one another well.” – Martin Thomas, University of Exeter European “With a range from the 1940s to the 1970s and beyond, the selection of distinguished and innovative younger historians guide the reader through conceptual issues in a way that is consistently compelling. The individual chapters are integrated into an overall, coherent account Colonial Empires of a critical period in world history. A vital read for all those interested in the dissolution of the European colonial empires and the aftermath of decolonization.” – Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas Cases and Comparisons Authored by some of the leading experts in the field of Decolonization Studies, this volume provides a series of historical studies that analyse the diverse trajectories of the Portuguese, Belgian, French, British, and Dutch imperial demise, offering comparative insights between the main events and processes involved. Addressing different geographies and taking into account diverse chronologies of decolonization, this volume explores the intersections between imperial and colonial endgames and histories of the Cold War, development, labour, human rights, and international organizations, thereby elucidating their connection with wider, global historical processes. The volume concludes with an essay by John Darwin, ‘Last Days of Empire’. Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo is Researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests focus on comparative histories of imperialism and colonialism. Edited He recently published A diplomacia do império and edited O império colonial em questão (2012), by co-edited Portugal e o fim do colonialismo (2014) and published The ‘Civilising Mission’ of Portuguese Colonialism, 1870–1930 (2015). Pinto Costa António and Jerónimo Bandeira Miguel António Costa Pinto is Research Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include authoritarianism, political elites, democratization and decolonization. He published recently (as co-editor), Rethinking Fascism and Dictatorship in Europe (2014). Edited by: MIGUEL BANDEIRA JERÓNIMO AND ANTÓNIO COSTA PINTO Image taken from O Notícias Ilustrado, no 261, 11th June 1933, p. 21, from pages dedicated to the Companhia de Diamantes de Angola – Diamang (Diamond Company of Angola). Copyrighted material – 978–1–137–39405–7 Editorial matter, introduction and selection © Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo and António Costa Pinto 2015 Individual chapters © Contributors 2015 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave is a global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978–1–137–39405–7 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India. Copyrighted material – 978–1–137–39405–7 Contents Acknowledgements ix Notes on Contributors x Introduction – The Ends of Empire: Chronologies, Historiographies, and Trajectories 1 Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo and António Costa Pinto Part I Competing Developments: The Idioms of Reform and Resistance 1 Development, Modernization, and the Social Sciences in the Era of Decolonization: The Examples of British and French Africa 15 Frederick Cooper 2 A Modernizing Empire? Politics, Culture, and Economy in Portuguese Late Colonialism 51 Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo and António Costa Pinto 3 Commanders with or without Machine-Guns: Robert Delavignette and the Future of the French-African ‘Imperial Nation State’, 1956–58 81 Martin Shipway Part II Comparing Endgames: The Modi Operandi of Decolonization 4 Imperial Endings and Small States: Disorderly Decolonization for the Netherlands, Belgium, and Portugal 101 Crawford Young 5 Myths of Decolonization: Britain, France, and Portugal Compared 126 Bruno Cardoso Reis 6 Exporting Britishness: Decolonization in Africa, the British State and Its Clients 148 Sarah Stockwell vii Copyrighted material – 978–1–137–39405–7 viii Contents 7 Acceptable Levels? The Use and Threat of Violence in Central Africa, 1953–64 178 Philip Murphy Part III Confronting Internationals: The (Geo)Politics of Decolonization 8 Inside the Parliament of Man: Enuga Reddy and the Decolonization of the United Nations 199 Ryan Irwin 9 Lumumba and the 1960 Congo Crisis: Cold War and the Neo-Colonialism of Belgian Decolonization 218 John Kent 10 The International Dimensions of Portuguese Colonial Crisis 243 Luís Nuno Rodrigues Last Days of Empire 268 John Darwin Indexes Paula Gonçalves Index – Names 278 Index – Geo 282 Index – Analytic 286 Copyrighted material – 978–1–137–39405–7 Introduction – The Ends of Empire: Chronologies, Historiographies, and Trajectories Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo and António Costa Pinto The Ends of European Colonial Empires: Cases and Comparisons provides a plural assessment of the ends of the European colonial empires, made by some of the leading experts of the growing field – in quantity, quality, and scope – of decolonization studies.1 The historiography of decolonization is still work in progress, vibrant in its plurality of ana- lytical approaches, establishing productive conversations with other historiographies and disciplinary fields. It is a field of research marked by the emergence of novel intellectual concerns, political and ideologi- cal outlooks and also geopolitical vistas, as John Darwin illustrates in his contribution to this volume.2 For example, the intersections between the scrutiny of the imperial and colonial endgames and local and global researches on the histories of the Cold War, of development, of labour, of human rights or of international organizations are being prolifically explored.3 The establishment of a critical dialogue between historiogra- phies of imperial endgames, geopolitical competition, and trajectories of globalization, for instance, entails many relevant advantages for each domain.4 Of course, these historiographical dialogues may generate some problems.5 But whatever the relative importance granted to these historiographi- cal and thematic intersections – and their political, economic, ideologi- cal, and cultural manifestations in history – it is crucial to emphasize their cross-fertilization (which we do below), illuminating the fertile outcomes and challenges they bring about, as many texts in this vol- ume demonstrate. Addressing different geographies and taking into account diverse chronologies of decolonization, this collection also highlights the spe- cificities of each imperial configuration and respective colonial situa- tions. Accordingly, it offers a variegated empirical assessment of almost 1 Copyrighted material – 978–1–137–39405–7 2 Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo and António Costa Pinto all European imperial endgames, focusing, with few exceptions, on the African continent.6 The importance, indeed the necessity, of endorsing the advancement of ampler analytical exercises that can include and compare other cases of imperial disintegration – for instance, those related to the post-First World War period, to the Japanese and Soviet