The Early Years of Development

• Discussion of Text and background information to colonial development

• Presentation: Development as an Objective in the Early United Nations (Hauke Meier, Mark Härtel)

League of Nations (1919-1946)

• Peace through collective security• International technical cooperation

League of Nations: technical assistance

• Internationalizes notion of „development“• Colonialism belongs to past (?)• Establishes categories (undeveloped –

developed) based upon earlier notions of „civilized“ versus „barbaric“ or „unvicilized“

• Emergence of the „development expert“• Focus areas of technical assistance

China: a case in point

• 1929-1941: about 30 experts: education, transport, agriculture

• Expert recommendations for agrarian development

• Role of Chinese government

Colonial Development: France• Albert Sarraut (minister of

colonies) calls for action program (1921)

• Limited funds for colonial development by Paris towards the end of the decade

• 1930s: tension between conflicting goals: keep colonial societies as they are (stability, no threat to existing order) versus need to legitimize colonial rule and extract resources in times of economic crisis

Colonial Development: France

• World War II: struggle for freedom and democracy – contributions by colonial soldiers

• Postwar: major development efforts in the field of education, health, legal system, equal treatment of colonial subjects and expats

• Rationale: development as legitimizing instrument of colonialism; response to strikes, social unrest

Illustration: The Office du Niger in Mali (1932-present)

Fact SheetSources: Schreyger (1984); Aw/Diemer (2005); World Bank Archives

1955 1980 20050

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Employees

Employees

1960 1980 20050

0.51

1.52

2.53

3.54

4.55

Rice yields per hectar (metric tons)

Rice yields per hectar (metric tons)

1945 1968 1975 20050

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

Number of Settlers

Number of Settlers

1934 1945 1960 1994 20020

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

Land development in hectares

Land development in hectares

Emile BélimeLa Production du Coton (Paris 1925)

Map: Les travaux du Niger (Paris 1940)

Beginnings(Left: brick production for model village; right: village)

• Founding of the Office du Niger 1932

Office du Niger (1940)

Mechanics of Development: Inside the Office du Niger (Photos from the

Movie „L‘Homme du Niger“, France 1940)

Postwar Colonial Development(African Soldiers – World War II)

• Struggle for freedom• Anticolonial international

environment• Legitimacy and Stability

“La grande illusion”(left: spare parts, Tanganijka groundnut scheme; right: Office du Niger)

Decolonization

Colonial Development: Great Britian

• 1928: Colonial Development Act: colonies can apply for loans

• Little impact due to Great Depression• 1940: Colonial Development and Welfare Act• Background: unrest and chaos in Jamaica;

desire to impress US

French and British development assistance, 1960-2008