A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
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In addition to territorial disenfranchisement and virtual serfdom, indigenous<br />
peoples were faced with other depredations. Colonial companies often came into conflict<br />
with the <strong>German</strong> government, and the <strong>German</strong> and African populations, because of<br />
trading in forbidden products. Examples of these were the horrific traffic in slaves, the<br />
socially-disintegrating sale of alcohol and the unethical commerce in firearms. Few<br />
voices were raised in support of <strong>German</strong> commercial interests in slave-trading for, in<br />
addition to its moral depravities, it was also seen as financially unviable. However,<br />
though officially forbidden and contradictory to <strong>German</strong>y’s signature of the Brussels<br />
Anti-Slavery Act of 1890, slave trading was allowed in East Africa as the local economy<br />
depended upon its use. 38 The trade occupied an important part of the regional economy<br />
and brought important tax and transit revenue into <strong>German</strong> territory. Sale of other<br />
merchandise like liquor and firearms to the indigenous tribes was also forbidden. But<br />
traders never worried about prohibitions upon selling such goods. 39 The continuation of<br />
these trade networks represents an example parallel to that of the anti-slavery crusader<br />
Langheld where European “civilization” was eroded by pragmatic considerations in the<br />
colony. In these circumstances, the profit motive again trumped the illegality and<br />
immorality of such practices. This presents evidence of the applicability of the concept<br />
of deterritorialization in explaining <strong>German</strong>-African, state-capital and social-cultural<br />
relationships. The inability of <strong>German</strong> social desires to cease illegal commerce also<br />
illustrates how deterritorialization can render the vital component of capitalist economics<br />
within such colonial interaction.<br />
As is evident above, the imposition of the <strong>German</strong> capitalist economy in Africa<br />
had a great impact upon the colonial population. Deleuze and Guattari’s<br />
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