Mercantile Era (1450-1850) Bibliography: Ethnicity in Africa, 1700-1850, Historical Maps of Africa

• Acquisition of ports, establishment of coastal trading posts & forts.
• Companies trade in natural products of the local region.
• Indigenous systems expanded and redirected.
• Enslavement of Africans across the Atlantic to work as slaves.
• Racism invented to legitimize enslavement.
• Initiated exploration of the interior/settlement of South Africa.

Industrial Colonial Era (1850-1950) Scramble for Africa, Colonialism links

• Exploration of the interior to catalog perceived resources.
• Raw materials and food needed for the industrial revolution.
• State sanctioned acquisition of territory (especially after 1884).
• Reorganization of production to meet colonizer's needs.
• Coastal orientation of linear extractive infrastructure.
• Dual economy of traditional and modern sectors.
• Siphoning off land & labor from traditional to modern sectors.

Neo-colonialism (1950- ) Indigenous People's Rights in Africa, Africa Development, Toxic Colonialism, New-Colonialism, Former British Colonies and Commonwealth Members

• Adoption of Western models of government/revert to one-party states.
• Multinationals perpetuate dual economy & system of dependency.
• Political independence but continued economic/cultural dependence.
• Extractive infrastructure still geared to primary product exports.
• Urban development: coastal orientation, administrative centers.
• Utilitarian materialist philosophy, acculturated elites, modernization.
• Ethnic identity and the modern nation-state in Africa.
• Toxic colonialism- dumping toxic waste in less developed countries.

This section based largely on pp.72-83 from Aryeetey-Attoh, Samuel, ed. Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. 1997.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Back to Main Index 321 Winter 98

Back to Schedule 321 Winter 98

Back to Calendar 321 Winter 98