1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996475757203316

Autore

Henriet Benoît

Titolo

Colonial impotence : virtue and violence in a congolese concession (1911-1940) / / Benoît Henriet

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berlin/Boston, : De Gruyter, 2021

Boston, Massachusetts : , : De Gruyter, , [2021]

©2021

ISBN

3-11-064909-8

3-11-065273-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XI, 191 p.)

Collana

Africa in Global History ; ; 3

Disciplina

967.51024

Soggetti

Logging - Congo (Democratic Republic) - History - 20th century

History

Congo (Democratic Republic) History 1908-1960

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Table of figures -- Abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: “Congo Atrocities!!!” -- Chapter 1: The virtuous enclave -- Chapter 2: Impotent agents -- Chapter 3: Ordering and evading -- Chapter 4: An indescribable ugliness -- Chapter 5: The concession embodied -- Chapter 6: A war against nature -- Conclusion: The concession experience -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In Colonial Impotence, Benoît Henriet studies the violent contradictions of colonial rule from the standpoint of the Leverville concession, Belgian Congo’s largest palm oil exploitation. Leverville was imagined as a benevolent tropical utopia, whose Congolese workers would be "civilized" through a paternalist machinery. However, the concession was marred by inefficiency, endemic corruption and intrinsic brutality. Colonial agents in the field could be seen as impotent, for they were both unable and unwilling to perform as expected. This book offers a new take on the joint experience of colonialism and capitalism in Southwest Congo, and sheds light on their impact on local environments, bodies, societies and cosmogonies.