QUEEN’S BUSINESS SCHOOL ECONOMICS SEMINAR SERIES

Friday 28^th November

3pm

“Councils and Indirect Rule in British Africa”

Jutta Bolt

University of Groningen

Abstract

We examine how colonial rule reshaped African political institutions and how African agency directed these changes. Using new data on 450 British African polities, we show that local resistance and pressure led officials to reinstate councils based on precolonial models, revealing that indirect rule adapted to indigenous institutions rather than replacing them.

QBS Conference Hub, Seminar Room 01.012