A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
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establishment of boundaries and tribal lands in order to force them into a fixed and<br />
relational position with regard to white traders resulted in the demographic<br />
reterritorialization of nomadic herders. In this manner, a process of territorialization<br />
under colonialism, deterritorialization by African nomads, and reterritorialization by<br />
<strong>German</strong> administrators and cartographers was continually enacted. The development of a<br />
cartographic consciousness further stunted African social and cultural life by identifying<br />
zones of exclusion and inclusion. In this way, the construction of commercial, political<br />
and social spheres by <strong>German</strong> colonial power forced indigenous peoples into demarcated<br />
locations, subject to <strong>German</strong> social, cultural, political and economic power. The formerly<br />
distributional notion of African cultural identity and economic subsistence was rendered<br />
impossible by <strong>German</strong> territorial and political geography. African attempts to<br />
deterritorialize and transcend these borders in migration or revolt resulted in<br />
reterritorializations through <strong>German</strong> repressions and the later creation of tribal reserves.<br />
Looking comprehensively at the social and cultural manifestations of <strong>German</strong><br />
expansionist colonialism in Africa, several conclusions can be drawn from the<br />
presentation of evidence above. In the attempt to impose European cultural and social<br />
norms upon Africa, <strong>German</strong> expansion reflected <strong>German</strong> notions of self and power in the<br />
mirror of Africa. 113 <strong>German</strong>y deterritorialized its cultural and social ideas upon Africa,<br />
and the history of <strong>German</strong> colonialism shows the various reterritorializations produced by<br />
<strong>German</strong> and African resistance to this colonialism. The obviously Eurocentric focus of<br />
this study underscores the fact that it is predominately a study of <strong>German</strong>y’s influence<br />
upon Africa; and thus Africa’s reciprocation cannot be discussed in equal terms.<br />
Nonetheless, this analysis has also revealed how <strong>German</strong> impositions were subverted and<br />
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