Articles · Vol. 31 No. 1 (2006): Africa Development

4 - How Britain Underdeveloped Bechuanaland Protectorate: A Brief Critique of the Political Economy of Colonial Botswana

DOI: 10.4314/ad.v31i1.22251

  • Monageng Mogalakwe
    Monageng Mogalakwe
    Department of Sociology, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
    Their articles →
Vol. 31 · 2006 No. 1 Africa Development AD

Abstract

Britain declared Bechuanaland a ‘protectorate’ in 1885 in a move largely driven by military strategic considerations rather than by the availability of economic resources. This can give the impression that in Botswana the process of eco- nomic underdevelopment, that is often associated with colonialism, never took place in this British ‘protectorate’. This article reveals that even in the so-called ‘protectorate’, the British colonial state policies subverted indigenous economic interests and stifled opportunities for indigenous private capital accumulation, while actively promoting the economic interests of a small white settler capitalist class.

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Author Biography

  • Monageng Mogalakwe

    Department of Sociology, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.

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