Triumph of the Expert: Agrarian Doctrines of Development and the Legacies of British Colonialism

417 Pages·2007·7.47 MB·English

by  Joseph Morgan Hodge

Joseph Morgan Hodge
Triumph of the Expert
Agrarian Doctrines of Development and the
Legacies of British Colonialism
S E R I E S I N E C O L O G Y A N D H I S T O R Y
Triumph of the Expert
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Triumph of the Expert:Agrarian Doctrines of Development and the
Legacies of British Colonialism
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Triumph of the Expert
Agrarian Doctrines of Development and
the Legacies of British Colonialism
Joseph Morgan Hodge
OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS
ATHENS
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Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hodge,Joseph Morgan,1965–
Triumph ofthe expert :agrarian doctrines ofdevelopment and the legacies ofBritish colo-
nialism / Joseph Morgan Hodge.
p.cm.— (Ohio University Press series in ecology and history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-8214-1717-1(cloth :alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8214-1717-7(cloth :alk.paper)
ISBN-13:978-0-8214-1718-8(pbk.:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8214-1718-5(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Great Britain—Colonies—Economic policy—History.2. Agriculture and state—Great
Britain—Colonies—History.3. Rural development—Great Britain—Colonies—History.
4. Imperialism and science. I.Title.
HC259.H632007
338.1'809171241—dc22
2006101505
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
List of Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction Expertise,Development,and the State at
the Climax of Empire 1
Chapter1. Setting the Terms of the Debate: Science,
the State,and the “New Imperialism” 21
Chapter 2. Developing the “Imperial Estate”: Early
Patronage and Pessimism for Colonial Scientific
Research and Technical Assistance,1895–1914 54
Chapter 3. Science for Development: The Expansion of
Colonial Agricultural Research and Advisory
Networks,1914–35 90
Chapter 4. The “Human Side”of Development:
Trusteeship and the Turn to “Native”
Health and Education,1918–35 117
Chapter 5. View from the Field: Rethinking Colonial
Agricultural and Medical Knowledge
between the Wars,1920–40 144
Chapter 6. View from Above: The Consolidation of
Knowledge and the Reorganization of the
Colonial Office,1935–45 179
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vi|Contents
Chapter 7. Triumph of the Expert: Development,
Environment,and the “Second Colonial
Occupation,”1945–60 207
Conclusion Postcolonial Consultants,Agrarian Doctrines
of Development,and the Legacies of Late
Colonialism 254
Notes 277
Bibliography 361
Index 395
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Illustrations
Figures
6.1. Colonial Office organization,c.1947 200
7.1. Sukumaland Equation 216
7.2. Soil conservation orders,Sukumaland 219
Plates
Not available in electronic edition
1. Main buildings at the Royal Botanic Gardens,Peradeniya,Ceylon
2. Main building at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture,
Trinidad
3. Director’s house at the East Africa Agricultural Research Station,
Amani,Tanganyika
4. F.L.Engledow,Drapers’Professor of Agriculture,Cambridge,
1930–56
5. Sir Frank Stockdale,agricultural adviser to the secretary of state for
the colonies,1929–40
6. James Mackie,director of agriculture,Nigeria,1936–45
7. Experimental field trials,Kericho District,Kenya
8. Citemene cultivation,Northern Rhodesia
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viii|Illustrations
9. Communal bush burning,Gold Coast
10. Ground cover and stone terracing on rubber estate,Ceylon
11. East Africa Groundnut Scheme,tractors at work along with
windrows that guard against erosion,Kongwa,Tanganyika
12. East Africa Groundnut Scheme,“bush-bashing,”Kongwa,Tanganyika
13. Senior agricultural officer sells an idea to an African farmer,Sukuma-
land,Tanganyika
14. Sukumaland Federation of Chiefs,Tanganyika
15. Model farmer,mixed farming scheme,Sokoto,Northern Nigeria
16. African agricultural assistant demonstrating grass strips on a slope,
Kenya
17. Smallholder’s farm,Trinidad
18. Roger Swynnerton,agricultural officer,Tanganyika,1936–50,and
senior agricultural officer,Kenya,1951–62
19. Alexander (Sandy) Storrar,senior agricultural officer,Kenya,
1944–65
20. Colonial agricultural officers and experts inspecting a field of
maize,Perkerra Irrigation Scheme,Kenya
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Tables
0.1. Principal Colonial Office advisers and consultants 9
0.2. Principal Colonial Office advisory committees and councils 10
0.3. Colonial Service recruitment,1913–52 11
6.1. List of colonial agricultural research stations,1951 204
6.2. Colonial Service recruitment,1944–53 205
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