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Overseas companies as transnational actors during the European conquest of Africa

  • Stephen Cooney
Extract

“William, when I went into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich!”

Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, Act I

Fortunes magically and mysteriously made on vast continents overseas have tempted western entrepreneurs for generations, much as Uncle Ben tempted Willie Loman. But these exploits also involve machinations which appear sinister to a general public increasingly disturbed by the control giant corporations have over our daily lives. As long ago as 1900, John Hobson developed the theory that modern imperial expansion was the product of the manipulation of national foreign policies by the “Rand lords” and similar overseas financial operators. This idea was used by Lenin, Hilferding and others in their elaborations of the Marxist explanation of the nexus between economic forces and the political behaviour of states. Imperialism in tropical Africa was always seen as a key issue in this context. With the onset of decolonization and the struggle for development, questions of the history and the progress of imperialism have remained cogent subjects of intellectual controversy. The historical “scramble for Africa” and the process of colonization which followed created the basis for the modern political map of Africa and modern African political society. To what extent were these developments triggered or determined by the activities of private entrepeneurs? What relevance might the answer have for the contemporary study of international politics? This article seeks to explore these questions in the light of theories of transnational politics. At the same time, the problem of European expansion in Africa provides an important test for the transnational approach, as it relates to the overseas political activity of international business firms.

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page 154 note 1 Hobson, John A., Imperialism: A study (London, 1938), chs. 1–6.

page 154 note 2 Winslow, E. M., ‘Marxian, Liberal and Sociological Theories of Imperialism’, Journal of Political Economy, xxxix (1931), pp. 713–372; Kemp, Tom, Theories of Imperialism (London,1967), pp. 30–35. pp. 115–53; Brown, Michael Barratt, ‘A Critique of Marxist Theories of Imperialism’, in Owen, R. and Sutcliffe, B. (eds.), Studies in the Theory of Imperialism (London, 1972), pp. 47–54; Stokes, Eric, ‘Late Nineteenth Century Colonial Expansion and the Attack on Economic Imperialism: A Case of Mistaken Identity?’ Historical Journal, xii (1969), pp. 285–301.

page 155 note 1 Examples of concentration on these areas are: Huntigton, Samuel P., ‘Transnational Organizations in World Polities’, World Politics, xxv (1975), pp. 347–68; Vernon, Raymond, Sovereignty at Bay; The Multinational Spread of U.S. Enterprises (New York, 1971); Feld, Werner, Non-Governmental Forces and World Politics (New York, 1972); Strange, Susan, ‘The Study of Transnational Relations’, International Affairs, lii (1976), pp. 333–45.

page 155 note 2 Nye, Joseph S., Jr. and Keohane, Robert O., ‘Transnational Relations and World Politics: An Introduction’, in Nye and Keohane (eds.), Transnational Relations and World Politics, issued as International Organization, xxv (1971), pp. 329–36.

page 155 note 3 For an example of the latter, cf. Ivan Vallier, ‘The Roman Catholic Church as a Transnational Actor’, in Nye and Keohane, op. cit. pp. 479–502.

page 156 note 1 Singer, J. David, ‘The Global System and Its Subystems: A Developmental View’, in Rosenau, James N. (ed.), Linkage Politics (New York, 1969), pp. 21–43.

page 156 note 2 Nye and Keohane, ‘Transnational Relations and World Politics: A Conclusion’, in Nye and Keohane, op. cit. pp. 729–36.

page 156 note 3 Robert Gilpin, “The Politics of Transnational Economic Relations’, in Nye and Keohane, op. cit.

page 156 note 4 Gilpin, Robert, ‘The Political Economy of the Multinational Corporation: Three Contrasting Perspectives’, American Political Science Review, lxx (1976), pp. 184–91.

page 157 note 1 Nye and Keohane, op. cit. ‘Transnational Relations: Conclusion’, pp. 734–36.

page 157 note 2 Vernon, op. cit. 4–5.

page 157 note 3 Hopkins, A. G., ‘Imperial Business in Africa, Part 2: Interpretations’, Journal ofAfrican History, xvii (1976), pp. 279–84.

page 158 note 1 Among the major states of western Europe before 1880 there was a general informal acceptance of British naval and political superiority in Africa matters; Sanderson, G. N., ‘The European Partition of Africa: Coincidence or Conjuncture?’ in Penrose, E. F. (ed.), European Imperialism and the Partition of Africa (London, 1975), pp. 17–44. Surveys stressing the importance of local factors in imperial expansion in this era are Fieldhouse, D. K., Economics and Empire, 1830–1914. (London, 1973), pp. 76–87, 126–45; Galbraith, John S., ‘The “TurbulentFrontier” as a Factor in British Expansion’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, ii (1960), pp. 163–68; Newbury, Colin W., ‘Trade and Authority in West Africa from 1850 to 1880’, in Gann, L. H. and Duignan, Peter (eds.), Colonialism in Africa, 1870–1960, I (Cambridge, 1969), pp. 76–94.

page 158 note 2 The humanitarian interest of missionaries was important also, but this was usually connected with the idea ofintroducing ‘legitimate' trade Cf. esp. Oliver, Roland, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, 1952), pp. 9–12, 35–44.

page 158 note 3 For provocative and interesting overviews Cf. Hopkins, 274–79; and Amin, Samir, ‘Underdevelopment and Dependence in Black Africa: Origins and Contemporary Forms’, Journal of Modern African Studies, x (1972), pp. 503–24. More detailed studies are in Gann, and Duignan, (eds.), IV, The Economics of Colonialism (Cambridge, 1975), but these generally emphasize the colonial era.

page 158 note 4 Brunschwig, Henri, L'avenement de l' Afrique noire, du XlXème siècle à nos jours (Paris, 1963), ch. 7; Newbury, ‘Trade and Authority in West Africa’, pp.66–76; Hargreaves, John D., Prelude to the Partition of West Africa (London, 1963), ch. 1.

page 158 note 5 Müller, Fritz Ferdinand, Deutschland-Zanzibar-Ostafrika; Geschichte einer deutscher Kolonial eroberung, 1884–1890 (East Berlin, 1959), pp. 85–95; Sir Coupland, Reginald, The Exploitation of East Africa, 1856–1890 (London, 1939), ch. 12; Robinson, Ronald and Gallagher, John, Africa and the Victorians: The Official Mind of Imperialism (London, 1961), pp. 44–51.

page 159 note 1 Galbraith, loc, cit.; , C. W. de Kiewet, The Imperial Factor in South Africa (Cambridge, 1937), ch. 2; Atmore, A. and Marks, S., ‘The Imperial Factor in South Africa in the Nineteenth Century: Towards a Reassessment’, in Penrose op. cit. pp. 105–39.

page 159 note 2 Barnet, Richard J. and Muller, Ronald E., Global Reach: The Power of the Multinational Corporation (London, 1975), pp 133–47.

page 159 note 3 Ibid. pp. 72–92; Gilpin, ‘Transnational Economic Relations’, op. cit. pp. 403–13; Magdoff, Harry, The Age of Imperialism: The Economics of the U.S. Foreign Policy (New York, 1969), pp. 40–62, 173–202. The concept of “fused” objectives is taken from Rosecrance, Richard N., International Relations: Peace or War? (New York, 1973), pp. 66–69.

page 161 note 1 Cf. David Easton's dictum that “politics”, formally defined, relates only to decisions which are authoritative for a whole society; The Political System (New York, 1953), pp. 126–28.

page 162 note 1 I would, for example, question the methodology of Michael Brecher and his associates, when they use the public statements offoreign ministry officials to test their framework for the analysis of foreign policy decision making: Brecher, Michael, Steinberg, Blema and Stein, Janice, ‘A Framework for Research on Foreign Policy Behaviour’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, xiii (1969), pp. 88–101.

page 162 note 2 On the African role in the partition of Africa, some particularly suggestive ideas are presented by Ronald Robinson, ‘Non-European Foundations of European Imperialism: Sketch for a Theory of Collaboration’, in Owen and Sutcliffe, op. cit. pp. 118–32; Cf. also, Newbury, Goling W., The Western Slave Coast and Its Rulers (Oxford, 1961), passim. and, Hargreaves, John, West Africa Partitioned, I, The Loaded Pause, 1885–89 (London, 1972), Ch. 1.

page 163 note 1 Slade, Ruth, King Leopold's Congo (London, 1956), pp. 23–43; Stengers, Jean, ‘King Leopold and Anglo-French Rivalry, 1882–1884,' Gifford, Prosser and Louis, W. R. (eds.), France and Britain in Africa (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1971)., pp. 121–32.

page 163 note 2 Fr. Auguste Roeykens, Leopold II et la conference geographique de Bruxelles (1876), chs. 1–2, 4; Le dessein africain de Leopold II: Nouvelles recherches sur sa genese et sa nature (1875–1876), ch. 3: and, La période initiate de l'oeuvre africaine de Leopold II … (1875–1883), chs. 1–3 (all published by Brussels: Academie Royale des Sciences Coloniales, 1956–7); also Brunschwig, Henri, French Colonialism 1871–1gi4: Myths and Realities (London, 1966), pp. 30–43.

page 164 note 1 Slade, 171–74; Jean Stengers, ‘The Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo Before 1914’, in Gann and Duignan, op. cit. I, pp. 262–64, 266–71, 278, 280–82. Cf. also the treatment of this system in Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

page 164 note 2 Jean Stengers, ‘King Leopold's Imperialism’, in Owen and Sutcliffe, op. cit. pp. 272–75; Slade, op. cit. pp. 175–78.

page 164 note 3 Stengers, ‘King Leopold's Imperialism,' op. cit. pp. 259–76; and, ‘Leopold and Anglo-French Rivalry’, pp. 121–32; Roeykens, Conference de Bruxelles, Ch. 2 and, Dessein africain, 1–2 esp. pp. 20–28.

page 164 note 4 Slade, op. cit. pp. 193–99.

page 165 note 1 Ibid, pp. 203–10.

page 165 note 2 Ibid. pp. 178–92, 199–210; Stengers, ‘Congo Free State’, op. cit. pp. 266–71, 280–82, 287–90; Porter, Bernard, Critics of Empire (London, 1968), pp. 260–74.

page 165 note 3 Roeykens, Conference de Bruxelles, op. cit. pp. 47–55, 109–93; Stengers, ‘Congo Free op. cit. pp. 264–66, 279–80.

page 166 note 1 Stengers, ‘Leopold and Anglo-French Rivalry’, op. cit. pp. 132–65; Crowe, Stephanie, The Berlin West African Conference, 1884.–1885 (London, 1942), pt. 1: chs. 1–2, p. 8; pt. 2: chs. 2, pp. 4–5; Power, Thomas F., Jr., Jules Ferry and the Renaissance of French Imperialism (New York, 1944), pp. 92–115; Brunschwig, Myths and Realities, op. cit. pp. 43–48, 65–74; Slade, op. cit. ch. 3.

page 166 note 2 The most complete discussions of Leopold's Nile strategy are in: Sanderson, G. N., England, Europe and the Upper Nile, 1882–1889 (Edinburgh, 1965), chs 5–6; Collins, Robert O., The Southern Sudan, 1883–1898: A Strugglefor Control (New Haven, 1962), chs. 3–5; and, King Leopold, England and the Upper Mile, 1899–1909 (New Haven, 1968), Passim, Cf. also Blanchard, Marcel, ‘Francais et Beiges sur l'Oubanghi (1890–1896)’, Revue d'histoire des colonies, xxxvi (1950), pp. 1–36; and, Stengers, ‘Congo Free State’, op. cit. pp. 274–78, 284–87.

page 167 note 1 Robinson, Ronald and Gallagher, John vi, ‘The Imperialism of Free Trade’, Economic History Review, (1953), pp. 1–5; Gf. also their Africa and the Victorians, op. cit. chs. 1–2.

page 167 note 2 Platt, D. G. M., Finance, Trade and Politics in British Foreign Policy, 1815–1914 (Oxford, 1968), esp. pp. 54–48; and, ‘Imperialism and Free Trade: Some Reservations’, Economic History Review, xxxi (1968), pp. 296–306. For an older statement of this view, cf. Feis, Herbert, Europe, The World's Banker, 1870–1914 (New Haven, 1930), ch. 4.

page 167 note 3 For general summaries of this threat, cf.: Gilpin, ‘Transnational Economic Relations’, op. cit. pp. 403–8; Lowe, G. J., The Reluctant Imperialists, I, British Foreign Policy, 1878–1902 (London, 1967), pp. 1–5; Stengers, Jean, ‘L'imperialisme colonial de la fin du XIXe siecle: mythe ou realite?’; Journal ofAfrican History, iii (1962), pp. 483–87; Platt, D. C. M., ‘Economic Factors British Policy During the New Imperialism’, Past and Present, no. 39 (April, 1968), pp. 120–38. The strategic threat is discussed in Lowe, chs. 2–4, and Hinsley, F. H., ‘International Rivalry in the Colonial Sphere, 1869–1885’, in Rose, J. H., et. al. (eds.), Cambridge History of British Empire, III, The Empire-Commonwealth, 1870–1919, (hereafter CHBE) (Cambridge, 1959), pp. 117–26.

page 167 note 4 This view is summarized in ch. 15.

page 167 note 5 Cf. esp. Louis, W. R., ‘Sir Percy Anderson's Grand African Strategy, 1883–1896’, English Historical Review, lxxxi (1966), pp. 292–314. Also, Marais, J. S., The Fall of Kruger's Republic (Oxford, 1961), p. 325; Gillard, D. R., ‘Salisbury's African Policy: The Heligoland Offer of 1890’, English Historical Review, lxxv (1960), pp. 631–53; and, ‘Salisbury's Heligo-land Offer: The Case Against the “Witu” Thesis’, English Historical Review, lxxx (1965), PP. 538–62; Newbury, Colin W., ‘Victorians, Republicans and the Partition of West Africa’, Journal of African History, iii (1962), pp. 493–501.

page 168 note 1 Flint, John E., Sir George Goldie and the Making of Modern Nigeria (London, 1961), Ch. 3.

page 168 note 2 Ibid. pp. 62–98; Robinson and Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians, op. cit. pp. 175–89; Platt, op. cit. Trade, Finance and Politics, pp. 251–56; Hargreaves, Loaded Pause, op. cit. pp. 93–111. Crowe, op. cit. pt. 2: Chs. 2 and 6.

page 168 note 3 Newbury, Colin W., ‘The Development of French Policy on the Lower and Upper Niger, 1880–1898’, Journal of Modem History, xxxi (1959), pp. 18–24; Flint, Goldie, op. cit. 34–41. 62–71.

page 169 note 1 Blanchard, Marcel, ‘Français et Anglais au Niger (1890–1898)’, Le Monde Francais, xii (1948), pp. 409–23, and (1949), pp. 73–83; Robinson and Gallagher, op. cit. Africa and the Victorians, pp. 402–9; Flint, Goldie, op. cit. chs. 10–13; and, ‘Nigeria: The Colonial Experience from 1880 to 1914/ in Gann and Duignan, I, op, cit. pp. 238–42.

page 169 note 2 Ibid. pp. 220–38 and Flint, Goldie, op. cit. pp. 48–71, 98–155, 187–215.

page 169 note 3 Gf. sources in fn. 43; also, Robinson and Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians, op. cit. pp. 395–402; and, Strauss, William L., Joseph Chamberlain and the Theory of Imperialism (Washington, 1942), pp. 80–85, 89–92.

page 169 note 4 Lockhart, J. G. and Wodehouse, G. M., Rhodes (London, 1963), pp. 106–22, 169–73; Galbraith, John S., Crown and Charter: The Early Tears of the British South Africa Company (Berkeley, 1974), ch. 8.

page 170 note 1 On Rhodes' personal motives, cf. esp. the remarks in Lockhart and Wodehouse, op. cit. pp. 67–70, 80–105, 132–57.

page 170 note 2 Galbraith, op. cit. Crown and Charter, chs. 2–4; Robinson and Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians, op. cit. pp. 202–45; Lockhart and Wodehouse, ch. 10; Oliver, Roland, Sir Harry Johnston and the Scramblefor Africa (London, 1957), pp. 133–72.

page 170 note 3 Lockhart and Wodehouse, op. cit. pp. 219–33; Robinson and Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians, op. cit. pp. 245–48; Galbraith, Crown and Charter, op. cit. ch. 6.

page 170 note 4 Ibid. pp. 240–54; Slade, op. cit. pp. 128–40; Lockhart and Wodehouse, op. cit. pp. 241–44.

page 170 note 5 Galbraith, Crown and Charter, op. cit. pp. 106–27,199–200, 310–39.

page 171 note 1 Cf. sources in fn. 49.

page 171 note 2 Louis, W. R., ‘Great Britain and German Expansion in Africa, 1884–1914’, in Gifford, Prosser and Louis, W. R. (eds.), Britain and Germany in Africa (New Haven, 1967), pp. 19–30; Marais, op. cit. pp. 46–95; Robinson and Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians, op. cit. pp. 410–30; Lockhart and Wodehouse, op. cit. chs. 17–20, 23; Madden, A. F., ‘Changing Attitudes and Widening Responsibilities’, CHBE, op. cit. pp. 356–59.

page 171 note 3 Discussions of the motives behind government policy are in: Robinson and Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians, op. cit. pp. 189–202, 290–300; Sanderson, op. cit. chs. 2–3; Lowe, op. cit pp. 127–37; and, the Gillard articles cited in fn. 39. On IBEA performance and British policy: Robinson and Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians, op. cit. ch. 11; James, Robert Rhodes, Rosebery (London, 1963), pp. 253–83; Oliver, Missionary Factor, op: cit. pp. 128–62; Galbraith, John S., Mackinnon and East Africa, 1878–1895 (Cambridge, 1972).

page 172 note 1 For examples, cf.: Guillen, Pierre, ‘Les milieux d'affaires français et le Maroc a l'aube du XXe siècle: la fondation de la Gompagnie Marocaine’, Revue historique (1965), pp. 397–422; and ‘L'implantation de Schneider au Maroc: les debuts de la Gompagnie Marocaine (1902–1906)’, Revue d'histoire diplomatique (1965), pp. 113–68; Ganiage, Jean, Les origines du protectorat français en Tunisie, 1861–1881 (Paris, 1959), passim.

page 172 note 2 Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, ‘French Colonization in Africa to 1920: Administration and Economic Development’, in Gann and Duignan,op cit.. pp. 177–94; Sieberg, Herward, Eugène Etienne und die franzöische Kolonialpolitik, 1887–1904 (Cologne, 1968), pp. 77–90: Suret-Canale, Jean, Afrique noire occidentale et centrale, II (Paris, 1961), ch. 1.

page 172 note 3 Newbury, ‘Trade and Authority in West Africa’, op. cit. pp. 76–94: and, ‘The Tariff Factor in Anglo-French African Partition’, in Gifford and Louis (eds.), France and Britain in Africa, op. cit. pp. 221–30, 254–59; Suret-Canale, op. cit. pp. 19–22.

page 173 note 1 Hargreaves, Prelude to Partition, op. cit. pp. 271–78; Flint Goldie, op. cit. pp. 34–41, 62–71; Newbury, ‘French Policy on Niger’, op. cit. pp. 18–24.

page 173 note 2 Hargreaves, Prelude to Partition, op. cit. pp. 93–101, 110–20, 201–14; Coquery, Catherine, ‘Le blocus de Whydah (1876–1977) et la rivalité franco-anglaise au Dahomey’, Cahiers d'etudes africaines, ii (1962), pp. 386–409.

page 173 note 3 Atgér, Paul, La France en Côte d'lvoire de 1843 á 1893 (Dakar, 1962), pts. 2–3; Chaput, J., ‘Treich-Laplene et la naissance de la Côte d'lvoire francaise’, Revue d'histoire des colonies, xxxvi (1949), pp. 87–153; Sieberg, op. cit. pp. 58–64.

page 174 note 1 Townsend, Mary Evelyn, The Rise and Fall of the German Colonial Empire, 1884–1918 (New York, 1930), pp. 124–27; Henderson, W. O., Studies in German Colonial History (London, 1962), pp. 11–12; Brunschwig, Henri, Vexpansion allemande outre-mer, du XVe siècle à nos jours (Paris, 1957), PP. 127–31.

page 174 note 2 Wehler, Hans-Ulrich, Bismarck und der Imperialismus (Cologne, 1969), pp. 298–315; Rudin, Harry R., Germans in the Cameroons, 1884–1914 (New Haven, 1938), pp. 17–75, 120–126; Hargreaves, Prelude to Partition, op. cit. pp. 303–21.

page 175 note 1 Müller, op. cit. pp. 80–85, 115–60; Brunschwig, Expansion allemande, op. cit. pp. 78–79; Wehler, op. cit. pp. 333–58.

page 175 note 2 Ibid. pp. 333–43; Müller, op. cit. pp. 97–133.

page 175 note 3 Ibid. pp. 134–42.

page 175 note 4 On Peters5 general strategy, cf. Müller, ch. 6. On the Uganda question and Peters' “Emin Pasha” expedition, cf. Wehler, op. cit. pp. 364–67; Lowe, op. cit. pp. 128–32; Müller op. cit. pp. 458–84; Sanderson, Upper Nile, op. cit. ch. 3.

page 176 note 1 Müller, op. cit. chs. 6–8, pp. 11–16; Wehler, op. cit. pp. 343–64; Henderson, op. cit. pp. 12–21; Townsend, op. cit. pp. 130–41.

page 176 note 2 Cf. Wehler, op. cit. pp. 263–81, 292–98, 328–33,367–72; and, Müller, op. cit, pp. 287–356, 384–87, for dicsussions ofsuch enterprises. The most important was F.A.E. Luderitz' company in Southwest Africa, which formed the basis of the German colony there.

page 178 note 1 Turner, Louis, ‘The Oil Majors in World Politics,’ International Affairs, iii (1976), pp. 368–80.

page 178 note 2 Cf. The discussion of this subject in Barnet and Muller, op. cit. chs. 7–8, and Galtung, Johan, ‘A Structural Theory of Imperialism’, Journal ofPeace Research, viii (1971), pp. 81–117.

page 179 note 1 Barnet and Muller, op, cit. chs. 3 and 5.

page 179 note 2 Vernon seems to agree with this view in the British, French and Japanese cases, but not in the American case, pp. 205–30. However, cf. Barnet and Muller, op, cit. pp. 72–81, and Magdoff, passim.

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