A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
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ejected European economics. But this transformation of <strong>German</strong> economic structures<br />
was minimal as African populations could only resist the <strong>German</strong> economy in minor<br />
ways. As the following study of land disenfranchisement and native labour indicates,<br />
indigenous peoples could not effectively challenge <strong>German</strong> economic imperatives.<br />
The extension and restriction of land rights to native peoples makes manifest how<br />
companies were able to undermine government in order to permit their commercial<br />
expansion. While the government established indigenous territorial rights in Southwest<br />
Africa as early as 1896, the colonial administration was hamstrung by the settler and<br />
business lobby who desired the land for themselves. 35 The local government in the<br />
colonies favoured the right of <strong>German</strong> commerce to acquire more territory over those of<br />
the original possessors of the territory, which consequently led to the forced sedentary<br />
life on reservations and the poverty of the region’s formerly nomadic pastoralists. In this<br />
manner, the deterritorializations of colonial capital had great impact upon African<br />
society.<br />
In a manner similar to that described by Deleuze and Guattari, colonial peoples<br />
were webbed into a colonial labour system founded in European capitalism. 36 The labour<br />
system was premised upon a model of “schwarze Arme, weiße Köpfe” where <strong>German</strong>s<br />
directed and natives worked. African peoples registered their dissatisfaction with this<br />
model by migrating out of <strong>German</strong> territory. Additionally, the abuses of the indigenous<br />
population at the hands of <strong>German</strong> settlers, owners and traders also created a labour<br />
shortage when migration further drained the labour pool. The solution to the labour<br />
question was through the establishment of a peonage system or “half-free labour<br />
market.” 37<br />
78