Colonial Internationalism and the Governmentality of Empire, 1893–1982 by Florian Wagner

Abstract

Decolonization must be either “revolutionary or inexistent,” declared the Martinican poet and politician Aimé Césaire (356). So long as it enforces a relationship between domination and subjugation, colonialism cannot be “reformed” in any substantive way. The International Colonial Institute (ICI, 1893–1982)—the subject of Wagner’s penetrating volume—begged to differ. The ICI claimed that under the guidance of European experts, colonial subjects could become productive contributors to global capitalist society “voluntarily” and “without renouncing their culture and traditions” (354). It rejected modernization theory’s claims of liberal universalism, arguing instead for localized models. Nonetheless, ICI experts shared “best practices” from around the world, creating a “trans-colonial” sphere of knowledge. Its ideas shaped colonial policies before 1945 and neocolonial practices thereafter; famous colonizers like Frederick Lugard and Hubert Lyautey were among its members. Wagner argues that the very consistency of the ICI’s calls for reform reveals the hollowness of imperial apologetics. Despite the group’s significant influence, the ICI has received little study. By conducting research in twenty archives across six countries, Wagner provides an account of the group’s institutional history, engaging critically with its central ideas and tracing its impact on policy. His central argument? “The ICI is the smoking gun that proves the immobility of colonialism” (350). Wagner’s approach is mainly historical, though he has read relevant sources in other disciplines. Chapter 5 draws from law and sociology to show how ICI experts like Cornelis van Vollenhoven used codification to manipulate indigenous laws for the benefit of colonizers. He draws from social theory, especially Foucault’s, to frame his interpretation of colonial reform as the search for “governmentality”—the control of colonies through elite knowledge and with the voluntary cooperation of the colonized. Through the ICI’s minutes and publications, Wagner reconstructs the group’s discourse of reformist colonialism. Chapter 3 explains the group’s standard discursive method. Colonial “experts” would begin by identifying a “stereotype” of successful colonialism (usually in Dutch Southeast Asia), which could be juxtaposed with unsuccessful ventures (often