The History of Development in Global Context -By Suleiman Lawan Kolomi

The history of development in global context can be traced back to post 1945 era during the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as global superpowers, anti-colonial movements, and decolonization. The idea of development as a global project and academic discipline also began in this period and many scholars argued that, the ideas and practices that aid development in post World War II had their origins earlier, in the late colonial period.

The post-war campaign to end world poverty represented the crux that marks the emergence of a new age and also led to a debate over the control and use of natural and human resources of the colonized states. Although colonial development projects started during the period of colonialism itself, colonialism in the colonized states is often understood as factor that causes contemporary poverty, inequality, and violence. Therefore, there is need to explore the nexus between colonial and postcolonial development.

In late 18th and early 19th century the Dutch, British, and French colonies came up with policy of trusteeship which placed emphasis on development on humanitarian grounds for native colonial communities. The policy was all about efforts to civilize the people, to give experience to the “childlike” colonial peoples who required supervision’ and to strengthen the weak amongst them. This mandated the European powers to help these colonies to develop through following the Western modernity. Colonial Development Act was established in Britain in 1929 which provides funding for economic development to their colonies, and Colonial Development and Welfare Act in 1940, which pave way to state-led development for the purposes of improving welfare of the native colonial communities. Modernization of Kariba Dam 1955–1960 in present day Zambia and Zimbabwe is an example of colonial development. Zambezi project to provide hydroelectric power, new technology, industrialization and modern scientific buildings, etc. are projects exemplifies development in the colonized region. In addition, many postcolonial states relied, for their policies implementation, on the input of colonial experts of various kinds such as colonial district officers, agriculturalists, and other technical advisors.

Indeed, colonialism has somewhat contributed to the social conditions and material economy in which development thrives today and also fundamentally shaped the project of development in most of its former colonies, via continuities between the ideologies, people, and practices of colonial and postcolonial development.

In contrast, development projects mentioned above cannot be denied but looking at states balkanization, border disputes, regionalism, ethnic tensions stoked by policies of ‘divide and rule’, and trauma from bloody wars of decolonization are also elements of negative legacies of colonialism which has in effect today contributed a lot in the underdevelopment of many colonized countries in Africa.

Suleiman Lawan Kolomi (M.Sc. in view)

Department of Sociology

Bayero University, Kano

suleimankolomi@gmail.com