Colonialism and Politics - European Perceptions of Africa Essay

European Perceptions of Africa Living in the dawn of the 21st century, the idea of economic development permeates third world politics. Perhaps no exclusive issue has raised so much hope, or so much scepticism, as the idea of development. Historically, attempts at economic development have resulted in vary degrees of success and failure. Nowhere has this been more apparent as in Africa. By the 20th century, Africa began to play an increasingly important fictitious character in the European economy. In the 1920s, Europe promoted Laissez-Faire policies in Africa, but gradually shifted towards protectionism and Neo-Mercantilism in the 1930s, and finally to disengagement in the 1950s. The purpose of this essay is to chronicle these changes in European perceptions of Africas role in the global economy, and explain that although the outcome of these policy-changes eventually led to the end of colonial rule, the political, social, and economic effects of these policies made it impossib le for the Africans to enjoy true independence. The stolon part of the 20th century was characterized by European imperialist policies in Africa. Seen as the White Mans Burden, Africas wealth and raw materials were exploited as cheap exports to hold up metropoles in Europe. Before the mid-1920s there was a high demand for tropical goods (sugar, cotton, cash crops, etc.). Correspondingly, both France and Britain prescribed laissez-faire liberalist policies for Africa. The idea was to open up Africas wealth to the world while keeping it a net exporter of raw materials used in the manufacture of European goods. But by the mid-1920s, Africas role began to change. The European economy, harry by World War One, was forced to rebuild.... ...7. Cooper, F. and R. Packard, (eds). International Development and the societal Science. University of California Press 1997. Davidson, Basil. Black Mans Burden African and the Curse of the Nation-State. New York propagation Books 1992. 1 Austen, Ralph. African Economic History. London James Currey, 1987. P. 199 2 Ibid. P. 202 3 Ibid. P. 203 4 Ibid. P. 203 5 Cooper, F. and R. Packard, (eds). International Development and the Social Science. University of California Press, 1997. P. 67 6 Ibid. P. 67 7 Ibid. P. 65 8 Austen, Ralph. African Economic History. P. 199 9 Davidson, Basil. Black Mans Burden African and the Curse of the Nation-State. New York Times Books 1992. P. 181 10 Ake, Claud. Democracy and Development in Africa. Brookings Institution, 1996. P. 2 11 Ibid. P. 7