Colonialism in the Congo Basin, 1880–1940

Description

This exceptional study of the Mongo people of the upper Congo River basin focuses on the evolution of Mongo work patterns from the period of the late nineteenth century to 1940, the high-water mark of the colonial period. It brings new evidence from oral histories, anthropological research, and archival records to build on or to correct colonial ethnographic accounts. From this fresh vantage point, Nelson reassesses colonial labor policies and relates them to today’s rural poverty and underdevelopment. CONTENTS MAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Chapter Page 1. In Search of the Mongo Past . . . . . . . . . . . l of Traditional Mongo Society . . . . . . . . . . 1 l 2. Life in the Equatorial Forest: The Dynamics 3. Slaves and Ivory: The Development and Impact of Long Distance Trade in the Congo Basin 1650 to 1891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 4. “Red Rubber”: Forced Labor, Violence, and the Struggle for Survival 1891-1910 . . . . . . . . . 79 5. Copal and Palm Kernels: The Opportunities and Demands of Colonial “Collaboration” 1908-29 . 113 6. Compulsory Labor and Plantation Society in the 1930s: The Destruction of Mongo Traditional Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 7. Adaptation, Innovation, and Change: The Colonial Experience in Perspective . . . . . 194 NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 WORKS CITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271