Patrons, Clients, and Empire: Chieftaincy and Over-rule in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific
Colin Newbury
Abstract
This book applies a patron-client model to case studies of imperial over-rule to examine the political relationships between administrative and indigenous hierarchies derived from existing social structures and surviving into the period of decolonization. It goes beyond classification of administration as ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’, and rejects the notion that imperial rule was simply maintained by threat of force. From the range of cases presented it is argued that there was a continuity between pre-colonial regimes and succeeding European hierarchies that incorporated indigenous leaders. There a ... More
This book applies a patron-client model to case studies of imperial over-rule to examine the political relationships between administrative and indigenous hierarchies derived from existing social structures and surviving into the period of decolonization. It goes beyond classification of administration as ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’, and rejects the notion that imperial rule was simply maintained by threat of force. From the range of cases presented it is argued that there was a continuity between pre-colonial regimes and succeeding European hierarchies that incorporated indigenous leaders. There are common themes in the initial dependency of European agencies (evangelical, commercial, official) on the patronage of indigenous rulers in states and reversal of this status at the onset of colonial rule. Remarkably few indigenous governments disappeared; and most subordinated leaders accommodated willingly or unwillingly within a new hierarchy deficient in resources and administrative personnel. In short, Europeans became imperial patrons and brokers between a distant metropolis and local systems of government in ways that were symbiotic, rather than hegemonic, subject to compromise beneath the rhetoric of colonial policies.
Keywords:
imperial rule,
administration,
leaders,
status reversal,
imperial patrons,
brokers
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2003 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199257812 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2010 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199257812.001.0001 |
