Ruling Emancipated Slaves and Indigenous Subjects : The Divergent Legacies of Forced Settlement and Colonial Occupation in the Global South

In this book, Olukunle Olowabi explores the divergent developmental consequences of nations in the Global South that were shaped on the one hand by forced settlement, where European colonists established large-scale agricultural plantations with enslaved African labor, and on the other by colonial occupation. He shows that most forced settlement colonies emerged from European domination with higher levels of education attainment, greater postcolonial democratization, and favorable human development outcomes relative to Global South countries that emerged from colonial occupation after 1945. Covering the entire postwar era, this is the first book to systematically examine the distinctive patterns of state-building and institutional development that resulted from forced settlement and colonial occupation in the Black Atlantic world.

An examination of the divergent developmental legacies of forced settlement and colonial occupation on both sides of the Black Atlantic world. The European powers that colonized much of the world over the last few hundred years created a variety of social systems in their various colonies. In Ruling Emancipated Slaves and Indigenous Subjects, Olukunle P. Owolabi explores the divergent developmental trajectories of Global South nations that were shaped by forced settlement, where European colonists imported African slaves to establish large-scale agricultural plantations, or by colonial occupation, which resulted in the exploitation of indigenous non-white populations. Owolabi shows that most forced settlement colonies emerged from European domination with higher levels of education attainment, greater postcolonial democratization, and favorable human development outcomes relative to Global South countries that emerged from colonial occupation after 1945. To explain this paradox, he examines the distinctive legal-administrative institutions that were used to control indigenous colonial subjects and highlights the impact of liberal reforms that expanded the legal rights and political agency of former slaves following abolition. Spanning three centuries of colonial history and postcolonial development, this is the first book to systematically examine the distinctive patterns of state-building that resulted from forced settlement and colonial occupation in the Black Atlantic world.