Ethnicity and the Colonial State: Finding and Representing Group Identifications in a Coastal West African and Global Perspective (1850-1960)

387 Pages·2015·3.027 MB·English

by  Alexander Keese

Ethnicity and the Colonial State
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Studies in Global Social History
Editor
Marcel van der Linden (International Institute of Social History,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Editorial Board
Sven Beckert (Harvard University, Cambridge, ma, usa)
Philip Bonner (University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa)
Dirk Hoerder (University of Arizona, Phoenix, ar, usa)
Chitra Joshi (Indraprastha College, Delhi University, India)
Amarjit Kour (University of New England, Armidale, Australia)
Barbara Weinstein (New York University, New York, ny, usa)
VOLUME 22
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/sgsh
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Ethnicity and the Colonial State
Finding and Representing Group Identifications
in a Coastal West African and
Global Perspective (1850–1960)
By
Alexander Keese
LEIDEN | BOSTON
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This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the prevailing cc-by-nc License
at the time of publication, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
An earlier version of this monograph was accepted as habilitation thesis by the Faculty of Humanities of the University
of Berne, Switzerland, in 2010.
Published with the support of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Geneva.
Cover illustration:
Large photo: View of Joal-Fadiouth (Senegal). Photograph and copyright by Alexander Keese.
Photo insert left: “United Nations Trusteeship Council Grants Oral Hearing to African Petitioner”.
(Conversation between Sylvanus Olympio, spokesman of the All-Ewe Conference, and Ralph J. Bunche, Director of the
un Trusteeship Division, before the 11th meeting of the Trusteeship Council, 8 December 1947, Lake Success, New York,
United States.) un Photo Archives, Photo 166842. Copyright by United Nations.
Photo insert right: Postcard: Paramount Chiefs from the Northern Province (Sierra Leone). Historical Postcard Collection
of Sierra Leone Web (www.sierra-leone.org).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Keese, Alexander, author.
Title: Ethnicity and the colonial state : finding and representing group identifications in a coastal West African and global
perspective (1850–1960) / by Alexander Keese.
Description: Boston : Brill, 2016. | Series: Studies in global social history ; volume 22 | “An earlier version of this
monograph was accepted as habilitation thesis by the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Berne, Switzerland,
in 2010.” | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015040771 (print) | LCCN 2015039288 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004307353 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004307346
(hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789004307353 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Ethnicity--Africa, West--History. | Group identity--Africa, West--History. | Africa, West--Ethnic relations. |
Wolof (African people)--Ethnic identity. | Ewe (African people)--Ethnic identity. | Temne (African people)--Ethnic
identity.
Classification: LCC GN652.5 (print) | LCC GN652.5 .K44 2016 (ebook) | DDC 305.800966--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015040771
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1874-6705
isbn 978-90-04-30734-6 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-30735-3 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei
Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the
appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma
01923, usa.
Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Maps x
1 Introduction 1
2 Group Identifications: African and Global Categories 36
3 Wolof and Wolofisation: Statehood, Colonial Rule, and Identification in
Senegal 84
4 Fragmentation and the Temne: From War Raids into Ethnic Civil
Wars 158
5 ‘Ethnic Identity’ as an Anti-colonial Weapon? Ewe Mobilisation from
the Late Nineteenth Century to the 1960s 220
6 Conclusion 293
Bibliography 313
Index 361
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Acknowledgements
A number of years after starting this project, I finally learned that comparisons
are not that popular in historical research. I must confess that even now I do
not quite understand why this should be. But it is a fact; and it can be frustrat-
ing to try to convince institutions that the results might be worth the attempt.
When, at a certain point, I became really desperate about the problem, I was
fortunate enough to have a long talk with the one real specialist in comparative
history of Africa, Paul Nugent – and his observations gave me back some of the
optimism at a crucial moment. Paul later became a kind of vip in African stud-
ies, and he remained a source of inspiration and guidance for my work, for
which I am very thankful.
Much of the fieldwork was done while I was a junior assistant professor in
Berne, and I am immensely grateful for the support I had from Christian
Windler, who always trusted in my approach and whose sharp and intelligent
views on moments of cultural encounter (in the early modern period) were
most helpful for my own research. In a later phase, Andreas Eckert was another
essential support for this project, because thanks to him the analysis took a
necessary turn towards a global historical perspective; something that Andreas
knows how to employ so masterfully, and that I hope to have at least partly
learned over the last years.
Generous financial support was given to this project by various institutions.
The Holcim Foundation in Holderbank, Switzerland, allowed the finalising of
the project through a substantial postdoctoral grant. In an earlier phase of the
research, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (daad) gave me an
important research grant; and I am also very thankful for the research grants
provided to me by the German Historical Institutes in London and Paris, and
for a Travel Grant for Ghana offered to me by the Swiss National Science
Foundation (snsf).
The History Department of the School of Oriental and African Studies
(soas), the Centre of African Studies of the University of Cambridge (cas),
the Centre of European and International Studies and Research of the
University of Portsmouth (ceisr), and the Centro de Estudos Africanos da
Universidade do Porto (ceaup) provided academic hospitality during differ-
ent phases of my project work.
Kwame Boafo-Arthur from the Department of Political Science and Kofi
Baku from the History Department of the University of Legon in Ghana, and
the late Francis Kwassivi Amegan from the Department of German Studies at
the Université of Lomé, Togo, were generous hosts. Peter Sebald introduced me
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viii
to the Archives Nationales Togolaises and was a friendly supporter of my work
there. My colleague and friend Kokou Azamede helped me with the archival
research in Lomé. I am also grateful to the archival staff in Dakar, Banjul, Accra,
Ho, and Lomé, who all went out of their way to support me. My friend Christine
Whyte was incredibly supportive regarding research assistance in the Sierra
Leone National Archives, and I am eternally grateful for that.
At the University of Berne, my gratitude goes in particular to the untiring
Hedy Werthmüller. Among my former colleagues, who have become friends,
I would like to mention Nadine Amsler and Nadir Weber. In Porto, my friend
(and model administrator of the African Studies Centre) Raquel Cunha led
some important publication activities related to the project.
In Berne and elsewhere, marvellous friends gave me their warmth and sup-
port during the project years. In Berne, the project brought me the friendship
of Claudia Dollinger, and, in particular, of Luise Menzi. Inga Squarr in Freiburg,
Sabrina Neumann in Karlsruhe, now Basle, and, of course, Clarice Engelsing in
Frankfurt were fantastic company during these years. Marc Althoff was the
friend who was at my side during the first research tour in the framework of
this project, to Dakar, Thiès, and Ziguinchor, and I will not forget his presence
there. Saskia Renner, Leif Claudi, and Can-Igor Türkay are other friends who
should not be left out.
In Madrid, the companionship of the unique ‘nenis’, Beatriz Ontín Jiménez
and Iris Abad Ortega, made the last phase of writing, and many long phases
before, it is true, a wonderful experience, in spite of all the difficulties. For mak-
ing Madrid a real home during nearly a year of writing, I would also like to
thank Israel Tejero and Elsa González Aimé.
Moreover, I am glad to have found, (partly) thanks to the project, some real
friends and good company in academic life. Tony Chafer was unwavering in his
support, and is what I would call an exemplary colleague and friend. The first
stage of the project, in London, brought me the friendship of Felicitas Becker.
Maciel Santos is one of the really special people in the discipline – I am proud
to call him a friend. Meeting Philip Havik was a good moment and the start of
a constant exchange; and one of the best experiences has been knowing
Mathilde von Bülow.
Wolfgang Reinhard and Mark Häberlein gave me mentorship and guidance
during my graduate student and early research times, over more than ten years.
If one can talk of ‘traditions’ of individual thinking that have shown me the
way, their contribution is one considerable part; as is that of Malyn Newitt,
who has supported my work for the last ten years, and is certainly the most
generous scholar I have ever met. Another big influence was, certainly, that of
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ix
Fan Chen. Finally, I am grateful to my parents, from whom I have inherited my
endurance in long projects full of struggles, I believe.
These years have thus been full of incredible privileges, which minimise all
the frustrating moments that a long-term project naturally includes. Other won-
derful friends have struggled through similar efforts of research in history and
the humanities, and this might be one reason why they are particularly close.
My special gratitude goes, therefore, to Camille Evrard, Korbinian Golla, Philip
Bajon, Olaf Schlunke, Lêda Oliveira, Elena Vezzadini, and Mairi MacDonald.
And, in these years, I have had the love and companionship of Beatriz – far
more than one could dream of. To her this work is dedicated.
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Maps
1 Case studies on ethnicity in West Africa 16
2 Senegambia 85
3 The Petite Côte in Senegal 86
4 Sierra Leone 159
5 Northern Sierra Leone and Southern Guinea border regions 160
6 Gold coast (Ghana) and Togo 221
7 The Togo-Ghana borderlands 222
All maps are based on original maps being courtesy of the Perry Castañeda Library of
the University of Texas.
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