Africa and the Expansion of International Society

Surrendering the Savannah

John Anthony Pella, Jr

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781138287846
• eBook ISBN: 9781317653066
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book explores the West-Central African role in, and experience during, the expansion of international society.

Building upon theoretical contributions from the English School of international relations, historical sociology and sociology, it departs from Euro-centric assumptions by analysing how West-Central Africa and West-Central Africans were integral to the ways in which Europe and Africa came together from the fifteenth century through to the twentieth. Initially, diverse scholarship concerned with the expansion of international society is examined, revealing how the process has often been understood as one dictated by Europeans. From there a new approach is developed, one which is better able to examine the expansion as an interactive process between individuals, and which puts the African experience at the heart of study. The empirical research that follows this draws upon primary sources to introduce a number of historically significant and ground-breaking cases into international relations, including; the international relations of West-Central Africa before the European arrival, the emergence and growth of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the attempts to 'civilize' Africa, and the 'scramble' to colonize Africa. This book argues that the expansion of international society was driven by individual interaction, and was shaped by both Africans and Europeans.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, international relations theory, history, African politics, the English school and constructivism.

Author John Anthony Pella introduces his book African and the Expansion of International Society: Surrendering the Savannah http://www.routledge.com/politics/articles/featured_author_john_anthony_pella/

1 Introduction

This book is about the West-Central African role in, and experiences during, the expansion of international society. The expansion of international society was an interactive process that commenced in the early fifteenth century with a series of exploratory sea voyages out of Western Europe, initially by the Portuguese, and later by the Spanish, English, French, Dutch and others. Those who partook in these voyages soon disembarked on the shores of “alien” parts of the world, which is to say that, prior to these landings, they had yet to have extensive or meaningful contact or relations with those who lived in these once-distant regions. Indeed, apart from rumors of spectacular wealth and empires overseas, those involved in the initial interaction that resulted from these voyages were entirely unfamiliar with one another. But suddenly, almost overnight, individuals and states from across the world came face to face with radically new – and in many cases very strange – social institutions, political systems, economic practices, ideologies, norms, values, and more; from there, they were forced to come to grips with these new and unusual features if a common ground for meaningful interaction was to be established and developed. The expansion of international society, then, was the process by which these people and states came together during the five centuries that followed these initial voyages, and how, over this time, a coherent global society of states emerged that was connected not merely in economic terms, but politically and socio-institutionally as well.

From one perspective Europeans dictated the expansion of international society. In this view, it was various European actors who physically arrived in new parts of the world and subsequently determined the terms of interaction with non-Europeans there, and because of increasing European power, the global international society of states that ultimately emerged was European in character, both in terms of the political, economic and socio-institutional organization of that society and in terms of who sat atop it. Problematically, studies that take this view reflect and reinforce a narrow Euro-centric narrative of world history, as European developments and experiences are privileged over those of non-Europeans despite an allegedly global focus. In this sense these studies are better regarded as examinations into the “expansion of European international society” or the “European expansion”, and are rather different than studies concerned with the “expansion of international society” or the “expansion process”. The latter, by contrast, conceives of the expansion of international society as a deeply interactive process and seeks to study it as such. While recognizing that Europeans did play a leading role during the expansion, these studies seek to understand how non-Europeans influenced the development of the global international society of states through their interaction with Europeans from the fifteenth century onwards, while also detailing the non-European experiences during this process. The majority of scholarship in international relations has been concerned with detailing the European expansion in one way or another, and there has been significantly less research into the extensive interaction that took place during the expansion and how this interaction shaped the process. In an effort to redress this imbalance, this book provides original research into West-Central Africa and the expansion of international society.

At the most basic level, study of “Africa and the expansion of international society” necessitates a shift away from the prevailing focus upon the European system and its expansion and a corresponding move towards the lesser-known African system. Indeed, the Western European system and its historical development have been discussed extensively in international relations and should be at least somewhat familiar to readers. The system took shape through congresses, treaties and wars – for instance at the Congress of Mantua (1457–1460) there was a papal push for European monarchs to unite against the Ottoman Turks, or after the Thirty Years’ War the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) established internal political boundaries, and there were many other instances. Such events and (dis)agreements provided the foundations for institutions, including international law, diplomacy, and territoriality, which began to constitute and order the relationships between European states. During the late nineteenth century, these and other Western European institutions were globalized through colonialism. Comparatively speaking, much less – if anything at all – has been written about the African system, its historical development, or how it was involved in the expanding international society. To illuminate the African role and experience during the expansion process then, the empirical research of this book provides just this through a longitudinal, chronological case study. It begins with a discussion of the West-Central African system before the arrival of European vessels, and from there, traces the prevailing patterns of Afro–European interaction that developed and changed over the next several centuries; specifically, the emergence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the subsequent effort to “civilize” and introduce Christianity, and finally, the establishment of political and military links between West-Central Africa and Europe. In doing so, the study contributes a detailed understanding of the West-Central African role in, and experience during, expansion of international society.

The approach

Scholarly works concerned with the theme of expansion come from an array of disciplines, including world history, economics, historical sociology, and others. Within international relations specifically, contributions to this area have come largely from scholars influenced by the “English School”. This is because the English School approach, when compared with any one of the many other approaches to the study of international relations, is most closely informed by – and concerned with – international history and its implications for the study of international relations. Several members of the British Committee for the Theory of International Politics, who are regarded as “founding fathers” of the contemporary English School approach, were historians, and during the meetings of that Committee, a predominant concern with different historical international systems and the way in which those systems became part of an expanding European international society over the course of history emerged. Indeed, in what is arguably the principal text to come out of those meetings, Bull and Watson’s edited volume The Expansion of International Society, this question is reflected upon at length. And since The Expansion was published in 1984, there has been a continuous stream of scholarship that engages with, builds upon, and/or seeks to correct Bull and Watson’s explanation for how the European international society spread across the world. This book may be considered as part of this ongoing conversation, though in its approach, it draws extensively upon primary historical sources, secondary histories, historical sociology and sociology to expand upon both the English School approach and the argument put forth in The Expansion.

The case for constructing a “new” (or expanded) approach is made in chapter two, which is framed around a detailed engagement with Bull and Watson’s volume. While there is much to be admired in their work, particularly for the exploration of how European rules and institutions “went global” during the nineteenth century, it becomes clear that their framework and approach have limitations for studying the expansion as an interactive process; that is to say, they prioritize the European experience to such a degree, that non-European contributions to the process are marginalized and even obscured. Such findings lead into an engagement with world history and historical sociology, where scholars have been concerned with the idea of expansion as well. Quite usefully, these studies highlight the centrality of economic motivation and political-coercive behavior during the European expansion, dynamics which Bull and Watson overlook in their socio-institutional approach; moreover, they demonstrate the merits of a employing a periodization scheme that traces study back to when interaction first began, as opposed to focusing predominantly on the nineteenth century. These valuable suggestions notwithstanding, one again uncovers a prioritization of the European experience and a failure to consider the deeper interaction that took place throughout the expansion process in these works. Subsequent reading of recent English School scholarship indicates that some inroads have been made in these respects, as they do well to explain the nature of non-European regions and the way that Europeans and non-Europeans came to understand each other during the expansion process. But unfortunately, these studies are mostly concerned with the Asian experience. What all of this means, then, is that if the present study is to provide a deeper look at the interaction that brought West-Central Africa and Europe together into a global international society over the course of several centuries, there is a need to build upon and enhance the strengths of these existing studies.

The nuts and bolts of this enhanced approach are explained at length in chapter three. There, the working presumption is that if one seeks to account for the non-European role in the expansion of international society while avoiding the pitfalls of a much-reproduced Euro-centric narrative, then there is a need to dig deeper. More specifically, detailed historical research into the international relations of the non-European world is necessary in the first instance, and from there, attention needs to be given to the patterns of interaction between non-Europeans and Europeans, how and why these patterns changed, as well as how all of this shaped the expansion process over an extended period of time. Stripping away the theoretical jargon, in following this presumption the argument put forth is twofold. First, in the centuries that followed the European landing along West-Central African shores, Africans and Europeans came to form a number of distinct societies; central to the formation of these societies was how Africans and Europeans perceived one another, and how the individuals involved gradually came to share similar ideologies, norms, values and aims despite their vast differences. Second, as the influence of these societies grew in both West-Central Africa and Europe, they came to dominate Afro–European relations, and in this way, played a fundamental role in how the two regions came together during the expansion process.

To speak more theoretically, the concept of world society and its influence on interstate relations over the course of history is the framework used to explore these developments. Behind the sociological idea that “human interaction is usually based on the fact that the ideational worlds of men have certain elements in common, [and] that objective intellectual contents constitute the material which is transformed into subjective life by means of men’s social relations” (Simmel 1950: 315), the underdeveloped concept of world society is reworked to better come to grips with the dynamic and diverse social relations amongst individuals that exist outside the world of states. In this reworked concept, the significance of the different ideologies, norms, values and aims that bring individuals together are elevated, as are the ways in which commonality in these respects leads to different types of social relationships. Social relationships, or societies, vary in type in accordance with what is shared amongst the individuals that constitute it, and in accordance with what the individuals that make up this society are trying to achieve. Behind this logic – and following Weber, Simmel and others – different types of societies form when individuals realize their mutual self-interest, or when they share a devotion to a specific cause, or when they are competing with one another to achieve an identical end. As West-Central Africans and Europeans came together throughout the expansion of international society, all of these different types of social relationships were influential at different times. What is more, these social relationships were the primary means by which Europe and Africa were connected during the expansion process. The empirical part of the book, then, studies the development and operation of these societies in turn.

The cases and argument

Empirical research begins in the fourth chapter, which studies the international relations of West-Central Africa in the years leading up to the European arrival (1300–1434). Geographically, the region of concern lies between contemporary Senegal and contemporary Namibia, as this stretch of coastline became the primary area for European and African interaction from the fifteenth century onwards. Research into the international relations of this region has two principal points of focus: firstly its political dynamics, discussed through an examination of the different types of states present there and the ways in which these states were organized; secondly the extent to which economics and socio-institutional practices connected these different states, considered through study of regional trade and the institutions of war and slavery, and discussion of social norms and values such as kinship and religion. The chapter relies chiefly upon the work of African historians, given the lack of primary sources that date from the period, and reveals a remarkable degree of coherence in what is labeled the “West-Central African system”. The relationships amongst states in this system were relatively ordered through trade, war and slavery, and similarities in kinship and religious beliefs heightened this order by providing a common social framework. This research into the West-Central African system and the states therein offers important background for subsequent chapters, as it enables understanding of how the expansion process was oftentimes shaped by the characteristics of that system.

In this vein, the fifth chapter begins study of African and European interaction by examining the oftentimes-turbulent period of first contact (1434–1650), and the subsequent coming together of Africans and Europeans through the construction of the trans-Atlantic slave trade (1650–1820). African and European relationships were initially strained because of the different ideologies, norms and values held by the two sides, and specifically, because of their conflicting understandings of slavery. Europeans perceived the slave as a tradable commodity and as a source of labor, while Africans understood the slave as a member of society and as an integral part of the traditional social structure. These differences provoked war on several occasions, as Africans were unwilling to sell slaves to Europeans, who, to the fury of Africans, responded by conducting slave-raids to satisfy growing demand for labor at “New World” plantations. Eventually however, common ground was reached. Many African elites and merchants came to recognize that the sale of slaves to Europeans could be a profitable venture, and they thus made a number of adjustments to traditional institutions to enable the slave trade to flourish. In this way, the African and European systems became increasingly interlinked economically through the trans-Atlantic slave trade institution. To trace these developments the chapter draws on primary source documents written by slave traders and African elites, while supplementing these sources with contemporary “Atlantic World” scholarship. The principal suggestion is that initial Afro–European interaction was contingent upon the principal features of the West-Central African international system, and that the construction of shared norms and values amongst a society of self-interested Africans and Europeans was central to the economic ties that developed during the early years of the expansion process.

The sixth chapter shifts to examine the emergence of moral criticism against the slave trade and slavery (1775–1840), and from there, how this transitioned into a coherent attempt to “civilize” West-Central Africa in accordance with the norms, values and socio-institutional practices that were popular in Europe at the time (1841–1875). Initially, segments of the African and European population united on Christian grounds to lobby governments to outlaw the slave trade, and while they enjoyed some early success – the trade was declared “illegal” by Britain and the United States in 1807, and many other states followed suit after Congress of Vienna in 1815 – extensive Afro–European cooperation along the West-Central African coast meant that the trade continued to flourish long after these bans were enacted. For the Africans and Europeans who saw slavery as morally reprehensible, this persistence was unacceptable, and they thus came to feel an obligation to “civilize” the people of West-Central Africa. From their perspective indigenous Africans were living in a state of unfortunate ignorance, and they reasoned that these primitive heathens needed to be indoctrinated into civilized European ways of life – which included Christianity, free trade and large-scale agricultural production – for both their betterment and to ensure that slavery would be eradicated there. Numerous West-Central Africans were involved in this movement from its origins, and even more became involved once activity began in earnest along the West-Central African coast. Some became involved because they ascribed to the movement’s ideas and others because cooperation facilitated their ambitions, but others still refused to abandon their traditional ways of life in favor of the new ideas. In this sense the attempt to civilize Africa had a paradoxical effect; while it brought the region closer to Europe in socio-institutional terms, it also produced deep fractures in traditional West-Central African society. To explore these dynamics, documents written by Africans and Europeans involved in the civilizing mission are utilized, as are secondary histories. In its entirety, the chapter uncovers how a society devoted to a specific cause played a vital role in fostering a degree of socio-institutional convergence amongst the African and European systems.

The seventh chapter is the final empirical one. There, the emergence of a “climate of competition” across Europe is traced initially (1859–1884), and this is followed by an examination into how and why Africans were drawn into this competition and ultimately facilitated the establishment of European rule (1884–1900). From the mid-nineteenth century European society was pervaded by Social Darwinism – that is, the social application of Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection – as well as a strong, radicalized nationalism. These ideas fostered a mindset wherein unbridled competition was celebrated and encouraged; it was understood as the source of progress in all sectors of social life, and its results were thought to provide definitive proof as to who or what was rightfully superior. Through this lens, many Europeans came to see Africans as biologically and racially inferior, and Africa as a place where their superiority could be demonstrated through military and political victories. Such ideas triggered a “scramble for Africa”, as, after receiving the blessings of European states at the Berlin Conference, European explorers and businessmen arrived en masse in West-Central Africa with the intention of establishing political links with states there, and with covert hopes of fulfilling their Darwinist and nationalist aims. While the Africans rulers and elites they interacted with did not share similar norms and values, they were nonetheless drawn into this European competition, as they came to recognize that cooperation with any one of the Europeans scrambling across Africa was necessary for security, and that it was the quickest path to political and military power. African rulers and elites thus entered into treaties of “protection” with Europeans, sometimes willingly, sometimes because they were deceived; a few years later, these treaties eroded into formal colonial rule. Throughout the chapter, primary sources and secondary historical literature are used to study these complex years. In bringing the empirical scope of the book through to the colonization of Africa, the central argument is that the origins of colonization rested in the activity of a core group of Europeans and the Africans who cooperated with them. In this way, by 1900 the political connections for a vastly unequal Afro–European international society were in place.

Throughout the book then, the focus is upon how individuals from Europe and Africa came together in a number of differen...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Studying the expansion of international society
• 3 Towards a deeper empirical and theoretical understanding
• 4 The West-Central African system, 1300–1434
• 5 Constructing the trans-Atlantic slave trade, 1434–1820
• 6 The obligation to civilize, 1775–1875
• 7 Competition and colonization, 1859–1900
• 8 Conclusion
• References
• Index