Colonial Impotence: Virtue and Violence in a Congolese Concession (19111940) (Africa in Global History, 3)

In __Colonial Impotence__, Benoît Henriet studies the violent contradictions of colonial rule from the standpoint of the Leverville concession, Belgian Congo’s largest palm oil exploitation. Leverville was imagined as a benevolent tropical utopia, whose Congolese workers would be "civilized" through a paternalist machinery. However, the concession was marred by inefficiency, endemic corruption and intrinsic brutality. Colonial agents in the field could be seen as impotent, for they were both unable and unwilling to perform as expected. This book offers a new take on the joint experience of colonialism and capitalism in Southwest Congo, and sheds light on their impact on local environments, bodies, societies and cosmogonies. This Book Offers A Historical Anthropology Of The Leverville Concession, The Largest Palm Oil Exploitation In Belgian Congo, And One Of Unilever's Main Plants Outside Of Europe, Between 1911 And 1940. It Provides New Understandings Of The Joint Experience Of Colonialism And Capitalism. As A Focused Case Study This Book Offers A Unique Take On The Global History Of The Early 20th Century. Benoît Henriet is Assistant Professor of History at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.