Emancipation without Abolition in German East Africa, c. 1884–1914 (Eastern African Studies) - Softcover

Deutsch, Jan-Georg

9780821417201: Emancipation without Abolition in German East Africa, c. 1884–1914 (Eastern African Studies)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0821417207 ISBN 13: 9780821417201

Publisher: Ohio University Press, 2006

This study examines the complex history of slavery in East Africa, focusing on the area that came under German colonial rule. In contrast to the policy pursued at the time by other colonial powers in Africa, the German authorities did not legally abolish slavery in their colonial territories. However, despite government efforts to keep the institution of slavery alive, it significantly declined in Tanganyika in the period concerned. The book highlights the crucial role played by the slaves in the process of emancipation. Author Jan-Georg Deutsch explores the rise of slavery in Tanganyika in the second half of the nineteenth century, when the region became more fully integrated into the world economy. An analysis of German colonial policy reveals that the authorities believed that abolition should be avoided at all costs since it would undermine the power and prosperity of the local slave-owning elites whose effective collaboration was thought to be indispensable to the functioning of colonial rule. The author demonstrates how slaves by their own initiative brought the evil institution to an end, making the best of limited choices and opportunities available to them.

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Review:

Does a great service of providing a cogent account of the workings of German colonial rule both at the highest and lowest levels. --American Historical Review

A useful contribution to the large literature on the decline of slavery under colonial rule. --International Journal Of African Historical Studies

About the Author:

Jan-Georg Deutsch is Lecturer in Commonwealth History in theUniversity of Oxford and the coeditor of African Modernities: EntangledMeanings in Current Debate.

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