Race and the Civilizing Mission

Waibinte Wariboko's book reminds us of the fact that despite our common humanity and universal brotherhood, ‘the problem of the colour line’ à la Du Bois is also a problem of the twenty-first century. The book is also reminiscent of the deep meaning of Joseph Conrad's statement in the Heart of Darkness that, ‘the conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much’. Colonization was not a pretty thing. That is why it was followed by decolonization. Wariboko's book is also, to borrow from Aimé Césaire, a ‘discourse on colonialism’. To that end, Wariboko presents his perspective in four parts: notions of ‘race’ and the ‘civilizing mission’; mapping race and the civilizing mission as outcomes of global historical processes; the implications of race and the civilizing mission; and (in the concluding comments) combating European constructions of blackness and African personhood (here he considers the contribution made by the ‘New African Historiography’ after independence)

Aesthetics · Colonialism · Decolonization · Framing (construction · Historiography · Humanity · Personhood · Political science · Politics · Postcolonialism (international relations · Race (biology · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy

• Colonialism

  Open Access•A Murrey•International Encyclopedia of…•2020

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• Colonialism, Christianity, and Personhood

  Open Access•Nimi Wariboko•A Companion to African History•2018

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