chapter 4 political econ of east africa

7/27/2019 Chapter 4 Political Econ of East Africa

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Ch: 4 Legacies of Slavery and Colonialismin East Africa

Political Economy of EastAfrica


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Introduction

Can part of Africas currentunderdevelopment be explained byits slave trade?

..The detrimental impacts of theslave trades arise because thecapture of slaves occurred by Africansraiding other Africans ( Levjoy 1974)


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Contents

4.1 Long term effect of Colonialism4.2 State and Society Relations andState Capabilities in East Africa4.3 Contemporary East Africa and theLegacy of Late Colonialism4.4 Case Study: Why Somaliland srecognition depends on the WestConsent?


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4.1 Long term effects of Colonialism

What was the impact of the transatlantic slavetrade on African economies and societies?Traditional answers have tended to focus ondepopulation. Studies by Patrick Manning (1990),

and McEvedy and Jones (1978) conclude that theslave trade slowed population growth in Africa andmay have even reduced the aggregate populationbetween 1700 and 1850. But the causal impact of

population growth on development is difficult toassess.1


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4.1 Long term effects of Colonialism

Orlando Patterson (1982) calls the production of slaves the production of "social death.'' It is aviolent process where a person is brought to thebrink of death, spared and then ritualistically put

to social death, left to owe the remainder of their life to another person. One would think thatcenturies of producing social death would leavea mark on social outcomes and institutions,some with lasting consequences for development.


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Cont.

First of all, slave raiding disruptsproduction and social life in general.Where slave raiding is frequent, ethnicboundaries and the ability to distinguishinsider from outsider might proliferate aspeople struggle to manage the risk of being caught. Similarly, an increase in theprofitability of slave raiding might induceelites to raid for slaves rather than buildpowerful states,


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Cont..

How widespread was slave production in Africa? It is impossible to know with anydegree of confidence, but we venture aguess. Between the 16th and 19thcenturies more than 13 million slaves wereproduced in Africa and transported acrossthe Atlantic. 77 percent of these slaves(10.1 million) were produced along theWest and West Central coasts of Africaduring the 150 years between 1701 and

1850.


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Economic and Social Effects of SlaveTrade

The model reveals the conditions under which the slave trade reduced the size of states.

increased social and ethnic stratificationand created a reign of terror.It also roughly trace out the impact of changing slave prices and capturetechnology on these features of Africaneconomies and societies.


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The Slave Trade and AfricanDevelopment

Our discussion begins with Walter Rodney's book,How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972).Rodney argues that the slave trade fundamentallyaltered African economies.First, the slave trade discouraged state-building andencouraged slave raiding. It encouraged the captureof slaves for sale and discouraged the capture of land and the cultivation of a citizenry for thepurposes of taxation. Quoting Rodney, "...there have

been times in history when social groups have grownstronger by raiding their neighbors for women, cattle,and goods, because they then use the "booty'' fromthe raids for the benefits of their own community.


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The Slave Trade and AfricanDevelopment .

Captives were shipped outside instead of beingutilized within any given African community for creating wealth from nature (page 100).'' And, "[i]f the prisoners were to develop into a true serf class,

then those prisoners would have had to beguaranteed the right to remain fixed on the soil andprotected from sale (page 118).''There is some empirical support for Rodney's

underdevelopment thesis. Looking at the relationshipbetween GDP per capita today and participation inthe slave trade centuries ago, Nathan Nunn (2008)finds that the slave trade had a negative long-term

effect on economic performance.


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He also presents preliminary evidence whichsuggests that the legacy of the slave trade operatedthrough increased ethnic diversity andunderdeveloped political structures. Studies of contemporary Africa tend to support the view thatethnic diversity and underdeveloped states havecontributed to Africa's poor economic performance inthe post World War II period.Easterly and Levine (1997) argue that a quarter of

the difference between the post-WWII growthexperiences of African and Asian economies can beexplained by the greater ethnic diversity in Africa.Perhaps centuries of slave raiding increased thecultural value of being able to quickly and easilydistinguish friend from foe .


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Similarly, Robert Bates (2008) argues thatthe predatory nature of the post-colonialstate in Africa created political and militarychallenges to its authority. When thechallenges intensified, ethnic stratificationalso intensified to the point where "thingsfell apart.''


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4.2 State and Society Relations and StateCapabilities in East Africa

The conflict between communities, caused bythe external demand for slaves, resulted inconflict within communities. Because of thegeneral environment of uncertainty and

insecurity at the time, individuals requiredweapons, such as iron knives, spears, swords or firearms, to defend themselves.These weapons could be obtained fromEuropeans in exchange for slaves, which wereoften obtained through local kidnappings.


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Cont This further perpetuated the slave trade and theinsecurity that it caused, which in turn further increasedthe need to enslave others to protect oneself (Mahadi,1992; Hawthorne, 1999, pp. 108 109). Historians havenamed this vicious cycle the gunslave cycle (e.g.,Lovejoy, 2000) or the iron -slave cycle (e.g., Hawthorne,

2003).The result of this vicious cycle was that communities notonly raided other communities for slaves, but alsomembers of a community raided and kidnapped otherswithin the community. Well-documented examples come

from the Balanta, of modern day Guinea-Bissau, whobecame involved in slaving, often preying on other Balanta communities and the Minyanka, of modern dayMali, who were forced by rival states into participation inslave-raiding and bitter conflict between [other] Minyankavillages (Klein, 2001, pp. 56 57).


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Cont..

In the end, the consequences of internal conflict andinsecurity were increased political instability, and inmany cases the collapse of pre-existing forms of government (Lovejoy, 2000, pp. 68 70). Historians

have documented numerous examples of this. In16th century Northern Senegambia, the Portugueseslave trade led to the eventual disintegration of theJoloff Confederation, which was replaced by themuch smaller kingdoms of Waalo, Kajoor, Baol, Siinand Saalum. Further south, in SouthernSenegambia, the same pattern is observed.


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Class DiscussionWhy Somalilands recognition depends onthe West Consent?

5-10 Minutes


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4.3 Contemporary East Africa and theLegacy of Late Colonialism

What are the legacies of late Colonialism inA. Somaliland

B. KenyaC. Uganda

D. Tanzania

Reading Assignment


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Writing Case StudiesNo Group Name Title1 Group 1 Why Somalilands recognition depends on

the West Consent?

2 2 The Political Economy of Kenya's Crisis

3 3 The Political Economy of SomalilandResources: The Case of Berbera CementFactory

4 4 The effects of long term Colonialism inDjibouti

5 5 Root Causes of Post-Election Crisis inSomaliland


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6 Group 6 Multi-Party Democracyand Privatized Extra-State Violence: TheCase of Tanzania

The effects of Aid /

west Support on thelocal Economy: TheCase of Ethiopia

chapter 4 political econ of east africa

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