Book Review: The Emerging States of French Equatorial Africa
| Author | Keith Callard |
| Date | 01 June 1961 |
| Published date | 01 June 1961 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206101600220 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
200
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
accepted
with
such
enthusiasm
that
it
became
a
solid
structure
of
authority
vith
all
the
sanctions
possessed
by
far
older
traditional
systems.
Professor
R.
C.
Pratt
of
the Department
of
Political
Economy
of
the
University
of
Toronto
follows
with
a
broad
consideration
of
what
he
calls
"The Politics
of
Indirect
Rule"
from
1900
to
1955.
In
fact,
this
section
not
only
illuminates
the
complicated
interaction
of
British
policy,
Buganda
separatism
and
Ugandan
development
but
provides
one
of
the
best
analyses
yet
made
of
British
ooncepts
and
practices
of
indirect
rule.
Illustrating
his
points
from
the
experience
of
Nigeria,
Northern
Rhodesia
and
the
High
Commission
territories
as
well as
Uganda,
Professor
Pratt
has
written
a
significant
com-
mentary
on
a
distinctive
phase
of
British
colonial
policy.
He
shows
that
the
concepts
and
practices
of
indirect
rule
arose
out
of
philosophic
Ideas
and
social
aims
as
well
as.
convenience.
Still
more
important
are
the illustrations
of
how
indirect
rule
became
outmoded
as
economic
advances
outstripped the
capacities
of
traditional
authorities and
representative institutions
began
to
draw
non-traditional
groups
Into
the
processes
of
power.
In
the
light
of
current
developments,
one
of
the most
significant
parts
of
this
lively
yet
scholarly
book
is
the
account
of
the
"Kabaka
Crisis"
of
1953-55
contained
in Appendix
I.
With
subtlety
and insight,
Professor
Pratt
unravels the
complex
interplay
of
personalities
and
policies
which
resulted
in
the
temporary
banishment
of
Buganda's
ruler.
As
we
now
know,
the settlement under
which
the
Kabaka
returned
failed to
ensure
the
integration
of
Buganda
into
Uganda
for
which
the
British
aimed.
Thus
Uganda's
own
constitutional
develop-
ment
has
been
seriously
handicapped
as
have
been
the
far
sighted
efforts
of
Tanganylka's
African
Chief
Minister,
Julius
Nyerere,
to
build
an
East
African
Federation.
The
striking
developments
in
Africa
which
have
pushed
it
into
the
forefront
of
world
news
are
fortunately
being matched
by
a
grow-
ing
store
of
first-class
works
on
its
varied
territories.
Buganda
and
British
Overrule
fits
easily
into this
category
and
will
long
remain
a
classic
statement
on
the
issues
with
which
it
deals.
Smith
College
GwENDOIEN
M.
CARTER
THE
EMERGING
STATES
OF
FRENCH
EQUATORIAL
AFRICA.
By
Virginia
Thompson
and
Richard
Adloff.
1960.
(Stanford:
Stanford
Uni-
versity
Press.
xiii,
595pp.
$8.75.)
English-speaking
students
are
greatly
in
the
debt
of
the authors
whose
earlier
study
of
French
West
Africa
has
now
been
complemented
by
a
comprehensive
volume
on
Equatorial
Africa. Five
years
ago
it
was
safe,
at
least
for
a
political
scientist,
to
ignore
the
French
African
ter-
ritories.
They
were
poor
and
obscure
and
seemed
securely
under
French
control.
In
any
event
it
was
difficult
not
to
ignore them
since
there
was
little
information to
be
had,
even
in
French.
But
now
the
states
of
former
French
Equatorial
Africa
are
inde-
pendent
and members
of
the
United
Nations.
The
four
states
(Gabon,
the
Central
African
Republic
formerly
Oubangui-Chari,
Tchad and
the
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