Humanitarian Imperialism: The Politics of Anti-Slavery Activism, 1880-1940

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Автор: Amalia Ribi Forclaz

Название: Humanitarian Imperialism: The Politics of Anti-Slavery Activism, 1880-1940

Язык: English

Издательство: Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press

Год: 2015

Серия: Oxford historical monographs

Формат: pdf

Размер: 13,5 mb

Страниц: 288

Between the late 1880s and the onset of the Second World War, anti-slavery activism experienced a revival in Europe. Anti-slavery organizations in Britain, Italy, France, and Switzerland forged an informal international network to fight the continued existence of slavery and slave trading in Africa. Humanitarian Imperialism explores the scope and outreach of these antislavery groups along with their organisational efforts and campaigning strategies. The account focuses on the interwar years, when slavery in Africa became a focal point of humanitarian and imperial interest, linking Catholic and Protestant philanthropists, missionaries of different faiths, colonial officials, diplomats, and political leaders in Africa and Europe. At the centre of the narrative is the campaign against slavery in Ethiopia, an issue which served as a catalyst for the articulation of international humanitarian standards within the League of Nations in Geneva.

By looking at the interplay between British and Italian advocates of abolition, Humanitarian Imperialism shows how in the 1930s anti-slavery campaigning evolved in close association with Fascist imperialism. Thus, during the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935, the anti-slavery argument became a propaganda tool to placate public opinion in Britain and elsewhere. Because of its global echoes, however, the conflict also generated worldwide protest that undermined the beliefs and certainties of anti-slavery campaigners, resulting in a crisis of humanitarian imperialism. By following the story of anti-slavery activism into the post-1945 period, this volume illuminates the continuities and discontinuities in the international history of humanitarian organizations as well as the history of imperial humanitarianism.

Introduction 1

1. The Anti-Slavery Revival, 1888-1914 14

The Emergence of Catholic Organizations 16

The Socicta Antischiavista d Italia 23

Building International Connections 28

The Geopolitics of Italian Anti-Slavery 31

Reconfiguring Humanitarian Relations 36

The Coming of the First World War 41

2. The League of Nations and Slavery, 1919-1926 46

Lobbying the Mandates Section 50

The Bureau International pour la Defense des Indigenes 55

Slavery in Ethiopia 59

The Slavery Convention 68

3. Popular Anti-Slavery Campaigns in Britain, 1927-1933

Kathleen Simon and the Education of Public Opinion 81

Old and New Campaigning Techniques 86

The Centenary of Emancipation 97

A Marginal Issue 105

4. Italian Anti-Slavery, Colonialism, Catholicism, and Fascism, 1919-1933 108

The Ascent of Fascism 117

Freedom Villages in Ethiopia 121

Towards a ‘Fascistisation’ of Italian Anti-Slavery 127

The Conciliation of‘Two Ideal Forces’ 133

The Shape of Things to Come 136

5. The War on Slavery 139

Creating a Humanitarian Emergency 141

The Italian Takeover 145

The Italo-Ethiopian Campaign 154

Intensifying Propaganda 158

The Problem of International Opinion 162

The Campaign Reaches its Peak 168

6. The Crisis of Anti-Slavery Activism 172

British Reactions to the Italo-Ethiopian War 173

Poison Gas, Annexation, and the ‘Failure’ of the League 180

‘Where Have All the Slaves Gone?’ 185

The Crisis of Anti-Slavery Activism 190

Conclusion: The End of Humanitarian Imperialism? 202

Bibliography 211

Index 237