Colonial State Formations: A Conceptual Note

• In Event: 286 - Section on Sociology of Development Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Paper Session: Table 06. Theory

Abstract

Recent decades have witnessed great progress in the study of colonialism. However, an explicit concept of colonial state formation has not yet been formulated. This paper addresses this gap by drawing on two different literatures, state formation and colonialism, to elaborate the concept of colonial state formation. Proposing policy making and policy implementation as the constituent dimensions of colonial state formation, the paper identifies a number of indicators to aid the assessment of the influences and definitive roles of a variety of actors from among the colonisers and the colonised in the process of colonial state formation. I suggest that this approach necessarily involves a rejection of an approach to the study of colonialism that sees eventual independence as the end-goal of nationalist activities; such a focus obscures from view the different ways in which nationalist activists shape colonial structures and institutions. The approach proposed in this paper will allow for the examination of materialist factors, like economic and political interests, as well as culturalist factors, such as religious beliefs or norms, and how these shaped the ways in which particular colonial states were crafted. The paper argues that a formalised concept of colonial state formation will facilitate a more productive exchange between scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds working on various aspects of the colonial state.

Author

• Kofi Takyi Asante, Northwestern University