Colonialism 7

[Both] the improvement of the health system and thus the drastic reduction in mortality rates (…) and the expansion of the education system [are] two positive manifestations of colonialism in Africa. (… ) It has also accelerated social and cultural change in the region. (…) Colonial rule (…) could not end the primacy of local social identities – such as family, community, clan, age group and ethnic group – over more abstract, more general identities such as nation.

Stefan Mair (2005): Ausbreitung des Kolonialismus.

Dr. Stefan Mair (geb. 1964) ist deutscher Ökonom und wird als Afrikaexperte bezeichnet. Er ist seit 2020 Direktor des Deutschen Instituts für Internationale Politik und Sicherheit, Executive Chairman of the Science and Politics Foundation (SWP), and member of the executive board of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).

The quote from the renowned "Africa expert" Mair reflects the endurance of colonial myths into the present. There are many counterexamples one can call up to discredit Mair's reasoning: colonial genocides (e.g. in modern-day Namibia) versus the reduction of the mortality rate during colonialism; the use of infrastructure for colonial resource and human exploitation versus the construction of infrastructure during colonialism; the destruction of previously existing, often non-capitalist forms of society or subsistence economy versus social and cultural change. Mair also describes loyalty to the nation as an abstract identity as preferable to other identities. In this way, he uncritically posits European concepts such as the nation as the norm, without naming the problems inherent in these concepts, e.g. nationalism and the resulting wars. The positive reference to ‘political and cultural change in the region’ indicates a positive understanding of colonisation as a civilising mission.

*Monitor (2017): G20-Gipfel: Wer profitiert vom „Marshall-Plan“ für Afrika? *glokal (2016): Sustaining Inequality – The Neocolonial Politics of Development Education, North-South Volunteering and Fair Trade in Germany. In: darkmatter – in the ruins of imperial culture.

2005