Colonial Internationalism and the Governmentality of Empire, 1893–1982

Explores how the International Colonial Institute, a pervasive colonial think tank established in 1893, reformed colonialism to make empires last.

Florian Wagner (Author)

9781316512838, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 February 2022

434 pages
23.5 x 16 x 3.1 cm, 0.8 kg

'… the book makes a significant contribution, with the breadth of the research presented; in showcasing ICI's influence over a lengthy timespan; and in its ability to analyse the role of NGOs and their members. Historians of empire are well advised to consult this book, particularly those pursuing transnational, transimperial or institutional histories of Africa and Asia.' Hamish McDougall, International Affairs

In 1893, a group of colonial officials from thirteen countries abandoned their imperial rivalry and established the International Colonial Institute (ICI), which became the world's most important colonial think tank of the twentieth century. Through the lens of the ICI, Florian Wagner argues that this international cooperation reshaped colonialism as a transimperial and governmental policy. The book demonstrates that the ICI's strategy of using indigenous institutions and customary laws to encourage colonial development served to maintain colonial rule even beyond the official end of empires. By selectively choosing loyalists among the colonized to participate in the ICI, it increased their autonomy while equally delegitimizing more radical claims for independence. The book presents a detailed study of the ICI's creation, the transcolonial activities of its prominent members, its interactions with the League of Nations and fascist governments, and its role in laying the groundwork for the structural and discursive dependence of the Global South after 1945.

Introduction
1. “More Beautiful than the Nationalist Thought”? Colonialist Fraternization and the Birth of Transnational Cooperation
2. A Transcolonial Governmentality Sui Generis: The Invention of Emulative Development
3. Politics of Comparison: The Dutch Model and the Reform of Colonial Training Schools
4. Cultivating the Myth of Transcolonial Progress: The ICI and the Global Career of Buitenzorg's Agronomic Laboratory
5. The Adatization of Islamic Law and Muslim Codes of Development
6. Creating an “Anti-Geneva Bloc” and the Question of Representivity
7. Inventing Fascist Eurafrica at the Volta Congress
8. False Authenticity: The Fokon'olona and the Cooperative World Commonwealth
9. “That Has Been Our Program for Fifty Years”: Sustained Development and Loyal Emancipation after 1945
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Diplomatic law [LBBD], International relations [JPS], History [HB]