Forji Amin, George ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3087-0296 (2025) Non-state Actors as Drivers of International Law: Role of Empire Builders in the Colonization of Africa. In: Emerald Handbook of African Studies. Emerald

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Abstract

This study explores the activism and politicking of prominent European non-state actors – who in their drive to prompt their home states to establish extraterritorial empires – resultantly triggered the fierce scramble for Africa at the dawn of the 19th century. The study contends that the activism of these prominent empire builders (Leopold II of Belgium in The Congo, Cecil Rhodes of Britain in Southern Africa, David Livingstone in East Africa – Tangayika and Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza of France in Congo-Brazzaville) by far gave colonization a recognizable, human face and were moreover defining not just for the eventual partition of the continent but also for the origin of nascent African states and the trajectory of their political economic order. While all the aforementioned empire builders appropriated the vocabulary and politics of the so-called ‘civilizing mission’ as the basis of their engagement across Africa, Leopold II and Cecil Rhodes were nonetheless principally guided by false humanitarianism, whereas David Livingstone and Savorgnan de Brazza who on their part were fully vested in genuine pollical and economic advancement of the continent, unsurprisingly found universal recognition and embrace among African political communities that they engaged.

Item Type:	Book Section
Status:	Published
DOI:	10.1108/978-1-83797-466-520251010
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DT Africa J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration J Political Science > JX International law J Political Science > JZ International relations K Law > K Law (General) K Law > KZ Law of Nations
School/Department:	York Business School
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/13645

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