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This open access book presents a groundbreaking new perspective on European imperialism in Africa, by focusing on the role of Dutch private entrepreneurs in colonial activities during the so-called Scramble for Africa . Distinguishing between a state-based Partition of and an actor-based Scramble for Africa, the book illustrates this process by tracking the entrepreneurial strategy of a group of Dutch entrepreneurs in the Scramble, at a time when the Dutch state itself largely withdrew from the African continent. This book thus investigates why and how nineteenth-century Dutch entrepreneurs from the port city of Rotterdam invested significant resources in West and West Central Africa between the 1830s and the 1910s. It demonstrates the trans-national nature of colonial investments in the Scramble for Africa, highlighting the crucial role Dutch entrepreneurs played in trade, production and investment in empires across West and West Central Africa (the Congo Free State, French Congo and Portuguese Angola). The book aims to rethink the Dutch role in European imperialism more broadly and its repercussions in the present day.
The book takes into account the social and political implications of colonial entrepreneurship as much as the economic and business implications, going beyond a strictly entrepreneurial analysis of success and failure. It will be essential reading for scholars of economic and business history, as well as historians of imperialism, colonialism and trans-imperial relations.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The Scramble for and Partition of West (Central) Africa.- Chapter 3: Dutch Entrepreneurs in the Early Scramble for Africa (1830s-1870s).- Chapter 4: Dutch Entrepreneurs in the Partition of Africa (1880s-1890s).- Chapter 5: Dutch Entrepreneurship in the Era of the Concession Companies (1899-192).- Chapter 6: Dutch Entrepreneurs in the Compagnie du Kasaï 1885-1910.- Chapter 7: Conclusion.- Chapter 8: Epilogue.
About the author
Gijs Dreijer is a postdoctoral researcher presently working on a grant from the Gerda Henkel Foundation on Dutch entrepreneurs in nineteenth-century Africa, and a lecturer at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University, The Netherlands, and the Alfred D. Chandler Jr. International Visiting Fellow at Harvard Business School. His PhD dissertation on sixteenth-century maritime law in Antwerp was awarded the Frank Broeze Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Maritime History. His research interests focus on economic, business, maritime and imperial history.
Summary
This open access book presents a groundbreaking new perspective on European imperialism in Africa, by focusing on the role of Dutch private entrepreneurs in colonial activities during the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’. Distinguishing between a state-based ‘Partition of’ and an actor-based ‘Scramble for’ Africa, the book illustrates this process by tracking the entrepreneurial strategy of a group of Dutch entrepreneurs in the Scramble, at a time when the Dutch state itself largely withdrew from the African continent. This book thus investigates why and how nineteenth-century Dutch entrepreneurs from the port city of Rotterdam invested significant resources in West and West Central Africa between the 1830s and the 1910s. It demonstrates the trans-national nature of colonial investments in the Scramble for Africa, highlighting the crucial role Dutch entrepreneurs played in trade, production and investment in empires across West and West Central Africa (the Congo Free State, French Congo and Portuguese Angola). The book aims to rethink the Dutch role in European imperialism more broadly and its repercussions in the present day.
The book takes into account the social and political implications of colonial entrepreneurship as much as the economic and business implications, going beyond a strictly entrepreneurial analysis of success and failure. It will be essential reading for scholars of economic and business history, as well as historians of imperialism, colonialism and trans-imperial relations.
