Settler and Non-settler Colonialism in Africa

Abstract

Africa has celebrated five decades of independence. Yet the continent is neither free nor developed. Some scholars have argued that contemporary crises and contradictions of underdevelopment in Africa echo the path dependency of the continent’s colonial legacies. Others question the propriety of blaming colonialism for Africa’s contemporary woes given that the colonial experience was not exclusive to Africa, and that there were differences in the nature of colonialism within the continent. Against this background, this chapter interrogates the nature, character and dynamic of colonialism in Africa. It shows that though settler and non-settler colonial architectures appear seemingly heterogeneous, their divergent manifestations were but a result of strategic and tactic considerations. The chapter opines that, once the illusion of difference has been discarded, it is clear that colonialism across Africa was informed by the imperative to resolve the crises and contradictions of capitalism in Europe.