Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Area / regional studies
|
Buy Now
The Belgian Congo as a Developmental State - Revisiting Colonialism (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R4,006
Discovery Miles 40 060
|
|
The Belgian Congo as a Developmental State - Revisiting Colonialism (Hardcover)
Series: Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Africa
Expected to ship within 9 - 15 working days
|
This book challenges assumptions that poor post-colonial economic
performance is always a direct product of colonialism by
reconsidering the Belgian Congo (1908-1959) as a developmental
state. The book demonstrates that despite the colonial system's
economic exploitation and extraction, brutality, excessive
taxation, and inequities, the Belgian Congo achieved successes in
developing the economy in a short period of time. The Belgian Congo
was able to achieve this by investing its higher rates of fiscal
revenue in political stability, physical infrastructure, education,
and healthcare. By reconsidering the Belgian colonial state as a
developmental state, this book encourages scholars to adopt a more
nuanced analysis of African history. Considering state capacity and
state autonomy as key features of a developmental state, the book
demonstrates that colonial state managers in the Belgian Congo were
able to supply these public goods that sustained economic growth
for decades. Whilst by no means glorifying colonialism or the
atrocities that were conducted during the Belgian occupation, the
book nonetheless outlines how different forms of capitalism were
deployed to further economic development in the country. In
contrast, predatory state managers of the Congo Free State
(1885-1908) and post-colonial kleptocrats (1960-2018) have
squandered Congo's natural resources with disastrous economic and
social consequences. Contrasting the Belgian Congo with colonies of
settlement and other colonies of extraction, this book encourages
researchers and students to reconsider the dominant narratives
within colonial history, development, and African Studies.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.