A. D. Roberts
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205661
- eISBN:
- 9780191676741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.003.0030
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
It was only in the 1890s, when the Scramble was in its last stages, that a literature on the British past in tropical Africa began to emerge. For most of the 19th century, British tropical Africa ...
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It was only in the 1890s, when the Scramble was in its last stages, that a literature on the British past in tropical Africa began to emerge. For most of the 19th century, British tropical Africa seemed a small subject, and attracted little retrospective consideration. An outgrowth of two related trends in historiography around 1900 is shown in this chapter. By the Second World War, a beginning had been made in the academic study of British expansion in 19th-century tropical Africa. Two seasoned historians had turned their attention to the recent economic history of tropical Africa. After the war, various factors combined to stimulate research into the history of tropical Africa. The history of British tropical Africa was no longer the preserve of a few eccentrics; it was a fast-expanding field of debate and diversification. In the course of the 1960s, the institutional underpinnings of African studies continued to be strengthened. In 1967, the normal closed period for British public records was reduced from fifty to thirty years; it thus became possible to study metropolitan files for the inter-war period during which British rule in Africa seemed most entrenched.Less
It was only in the 1890s, when the Scramble was in its last stages, that a literature on the British past in tropical Africa began to emerge. For most of the 19th century, British tropical Africa seemed a small subject, and attracted little retrospective consideration. An outgrowth of two related trends in historiography around 1900 is shown in this chapter. By the Second World War, a beginning had been made in the academic study of British expansion in 19th-century tropical Africa. Two seasoned historians had turned their attention to the recent economic history of tropical Africa. After the war, various factors combined to stimulate research into the history of tropical Africa. The history of British tropical Africa was no longer the preserve of a few eccentrics; it was a fast-expanding field of debate and diversification. In the course of the 1960s, the institutional underpinnings of African studies continued to be strengthened. In 1967, the normal closed period for British public records was reduced from fifty to thirty years; it thus became possible to study metropolitan files for the inter-war period during which British rule in Africa seemed most entrenched.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803463
- eISBN:
- 9780226803487
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803487.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter addresses the multifaceted preoccupations of geographical societies and the field expeditions they sponsored in tropical Africa, showing the longevity of concern for the development of ...
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This chapter addresses the multifaceted preoccupations of geographical societies and the field expeditions they sponsored in tropical Africa, showing the longevity of concern for the development of Africa and the integral part scientists played in forming its epistemological content. It is believed that naturalists and scientists of all sorts would be important players in the “opening up” of Africa. Complicating the inherent tensions between multinational and national rights was the problem of how to set limits on geographical expeditions and scientific activities. The national jealousies and the impetus to seize lands that British officials had feared soon materialized. The African Society's objective to assess “indigenous” culture and institutions would thus help to “disperse many errors and dispel many illusions”.Less
This chapter addresses the multifaceted preoccupations of geographical societies and the field expeditions they sponsored in tropical Africa, showing the longevity of concern for the development of Africa and the integral part scientists played in forming its epistemological content. It is believed that naturalists and scientists of all sorts would be important players in the “opening up” of Africa. Complicating the inherent tensions between multinational and national rights was the problem of how to set limits on geographical expeditions and scientific activities. The national jealousies and the impetus to seize lands that British officials had feared soon materialized. The African Society's objective to assess “indigenous” culture and institutions would thus help to “disperse many errors and dispel many illusions”.
WM. ROGER LOUIS
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205647
- eISBN:
- 9780191676727
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205647.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter presents a discussion on the dissolution of the British Empire. In particular, it deals with the critical cases of India, Palestine, Burma, Ceylon, Egypt, the Sudan, Malaya, the West ...
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This chapter presents a discussion on the dissolution of the British Empire. In particular, it deals with the critical cases of India, Palestine, Burma, Ceylon, Egypt, the Sudan, Malaya, the West Indies, and tropical Africa. Above all, it explains how the initial phase of disengagement, presided over by Clement Attlee, eventually found its culmination in the era of liquidation dominated by Harold Macmillan. There were three main periods. The first was that of the Labour government, 1945–51; the second that of the Tory governments of Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Anthony Eden, 1951–7; and the third that of Macmillan from 1957. The immediate causes of the end of the British Empire are to be found not only in the nationalist movements in Empire itself but also in the lessons learned from the Algerian revolution and in the danger of Soviet intervention in the Congo. It is shown that the international climate expedited the advance to independence, but the circumstances varied from region to region, from colony to colony.Less
This chapter presents a discussion on the dissolution of the British Empire. In particular, it deals with the critical cases of India, Palestine, Burma, Ceylon, Egypt, the Sudan, Malaya, the West Indies, and tropical Africa. Above all, it explains how the initial phase of disengagement, presided over by Clement Attlee, eventually found its culmination in the era of liquidation dominated by Harold Macmillan. There were three main periods. The first was that of the Labour government, 1945–51; the second that of the Tory governments of Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Anthony Eden, 1951–7; and the third that of Macmillan from 1957. The immediate causes of the end of the British Empire are to be found not only in the nationalist movements in Empire itself but also in the lessons learned from the Algerian revolution and in the danger of Soviet intervention in the Congo. It is shown that the international climate expedited the advance to independence, but the circumstances varied from region to region, from colony to colony.
Peter J. Yearwood
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199226733
- eISBN:
- 9780191710308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226733.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The league idea developed in several new directions in 1917–18. Some close to Lloyd George, like Philip Kerr and Maurice Hankey, envisaged an active organization with a powerful secretariat which ...
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The league idea developed in several new directions in 1917–18. Some close to Lloyd George, like Philip Kerr and Maurice Hankey, envisaged an active organization with a powerful secretariat which might resolve the underlying problems which led to war. This was linked to the possibility of threatening Germany with exclusion from the inter‐Allied bodies which would control economic resources in the reconstruction period, an idea which alarmed Wilson and led him to refuse to discuss league plans with London. Others such as Jan Smuts developed plans for the internationalization of tropical Africa. London began to place the league idea at the centre of its propaganda, and was particularly concerned with the development of Labour and socialist thinking, which strikingly paralleled its own. Nevertheless, the new ideas were meant to complement, not replace, the older idea of a guarantee. Following an initiative by Robert Cecil at the Foreign Office, this was worked out in some detailed by the Phillimore Committee.Less
The league idea developed in several new directions in 1917–18. Some close to Lloyd George, like Philip Kerr and Maurice Hankey, envisaged an active organization with a powerful secretariat which might resolve the underlying problems which led to war. This was linked to the possibility of threatening Germany with exclusion from the inter‐Allied bodies which would control economic resources in the reconstruction period, an idea which alarmed Wilson and led him to refuse to discuss league plans with London. Others such as Jan Smuts developed plans for the internationalization of tropical Africa. London began to place the league idea at the centre of its propaganda, and was particularly concerned with the development of Labour and socialist thinking, which strikingly paralleled its own. Nevertheless, the new ideas were meant to complement, not replace, the older idea of a guarantee. Following an initiative by Robert Cecil at the Foreign Office, this was worked out in some detailed by the Phillimore Committee.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803463
- eISBN:
- 9780226803487
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803487.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter explores how European rule affected tropical Africa and how African experiences shaped key elements of the modern world. Tropical Africa has served as a key site in which to work out a ...
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This chapter explores how European rule affected tropical Africa and how African experiences shaped key elements of the modern world. Tropical Africa has served as a key site in which to work out a scientific discourse of complexity, interrelations, and interdependence, concepts that were at the heart of governmental and development interventions. The patterns in colonialism, power, domination, hegemony, and violence that have been revealed in this book are extremely important and should never be discounted. The book has also opened a range of new questions about the history of science in colonial Africa and about the link between ethnosciences and field sciences. The proof of the importance of “traditional knowledge” normally arrives from the sciences themselves and usually has something to do with how well this knowledge works in the real world.Less
This chapter explores how European rule affected tropical Africa and how African experiences shaped key elements of the modern world. Tropical Africa has served as a key site in which to work out a scientific discourse of complexity, interrelations, and interdependence, concepts that were at the heart of governmental and development interventions. The patterns in colonialism, power, domination, hegemony, and violence that have been revealed in this book are extremely important and should never be discounted. The book has also opened a range of new questions about the history of science in colonial Africa and about the link between ethnosciences and field sciences. The proof of the importance of “traditional knowledge” normally arrives from the sciences themselves and usually has something to do with how well this knowledge works in the real world.
Iruka N. Okeke
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801449413
- eISBN:
- 9780801460906
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801449413.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
Infectious disease is the most common cause of illness and death in Africa, yet health practitioners routinely fail to identify causative microorganisms in most patients. As a result, patients often ...
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Infectious disease is the most common cause of illness and death in Africa, yet health practitioners routinely fail to identify causative microorganisms in most patients. As a result, patients often do not receive the right medicine in time to cure them promptly even when such medicine is available, outbreaks are larger and more devastating than they should be, and the impact of control interventions is difficult to measure. Wrong prescriptions and prolonged infections amount to needless costs for patients and for health systems. This book argues that laboratory diagnostics are essential to the effective practice of medicine in Africa. The diversity of endemic life-threatening infections and limited public health resources in tropical Africa make the need for basic laboratory diagnostic support even more acute than in other parts of the world. This book gathers compelling case studies of inadequate diagnoses of diseases ranging from fevers to respiratory infections and sexually transmitted diseases. The inherited and widely prevalent health clinic model, which excludes or diminishes the hospital laboratory, is flawed, to often devastating effect. Fortunately, there are new technologies that make it possible to inexpensively implement testing at the primary care level. The book makes clear that routine use of appropriate diagnostic support should be part of every drug-delivery plan in Africa and that diagnostic development should be given high priority.Less
Infectious disease is the most common cause of illness and death in Africa, yet health practitioners routinely fail to identify causative microorganisms in most patients. As a result, patients often do not receive the right medicine in time to cure them promptly even when such medicine is available, outbreaks are larger and more devastating than they should be, and the impact of control interventions is difficult to measure. Wrong prescriptions and prolonged infections amount to needless costs for patients and for health systems. This book argues that laboratory diagnostics are essential to the effective practice of medicine in Africa. The diversity of endemic life-threatening infections and limited public health resources in tropical Africa make the need for basic laboratory diagnostic support even more acute than in other parts of the world. This book gathers compelling case studies of inadequate diagnoses of diseases ranging from fevers to respiratory infections and sexually transmitted diseases. The inherited and widely prevalent health clinic model, which excludes or diminishes the hospital laboratory, is flawed, to often devastating effect. Fortunately, there are new technologies that make it possible to inexpensively implement testing at the primary care level. The book makes clear that routine use of appropriate diagnostic support should be part of every drug-delivery plan in Africa and that diagnostic development should be given high priority.
Parker Shipton
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300116038
- eISBN:
- 9780300162929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300116038.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
This chapter introduces the main study of this book, which focuses on the efforts of Luo-speaking people and others in Kenya to make sense of, and cope with, foreign interventions in the form of ...
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This chapter introduces the main study of this book, which focuses on the efforts of Luo-speaking people and others in Kenya to make sense of, and cope with, foreign interventions in the form of credit. It discusses how by both insiders' and outsiders' judgments, tropical Africa, and western Kenya within it, are short of capital for agriculture and other productive uses. The chapter reveals that credit has been a standard response of international aid agencies to reports of declines in Africa's per capita agricultural production or rises in its population. It has come by itself or tied together with training, extension, marketing infrastructure, pricing interventions, conditional requirements about exchange rates, and free emergency relief. However, the philosophy, language, and career incentives of aid officials have been geared to the idea that poor people and countries must borrow.Less
This chapter introduces the main study of this book, which focuses on the efforts of Luo-speaking people and others in Kenya to make sense of, and cope with, foreign interventions in the form of credit. It discusses how by both insiders' and outsiders' judgments, tropical Africa, and western Kenya within it, are short of capital for agriculture and other productive uses. The chapter reveals that credit has been a standard response of international aid agencies to reports of declines in Africa's per capita agricultural production or rises in its population. It has come by itself or tied together with training, extension, marketing infrastructure, pricing interventions, conditional requirements about exchange rates, and free emergency relief. However, the philosophy, language, and career incentives of aid officials have been geared to the idea that poor people and countries must borrow.