SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA: MOTIVATIONS. COLONIZATION THEORIES AND IDEOLOGIES

Abstract

The article on the “Partition of Africa: Motivations, Theories, and Ideologies of Colonization” aims to analyze the motivations, theories, and ideologies that underpinned the partitioning of Africa in the 19th century, in light of historiographical interpretations, relating them to the construction of colonial empires and their impacts and problems in the present-day realities of former colonies. Methodologically, it results from the hermeneutics of written works on the invasion, partitioning, and occupation of African spaces. The occupation of Africa was justified by psychological theories (social Darwinism, evangelical Christianity, and social atavism) and diplomatic theories (national prestige, balance of power, global strategy). We understand that although the European presence in Africa is most clearly understood in the African dimension, economic reasons obviously justified the plunder of the Cradle of Africa, leading to the assimilation of its institutions entangled in Weberian bureaucracy. From the discussion, we conclude that the goal was to obtain markets for the extraction of raw materials and the export of products. Manufactured goods are believed to have driven the expansion and occupation of territories in Africa, and consequently, the implementation of colonial ideologies in the kingdoms led to the destruction of African institutions by interfering with social and economic organization. In the 21st century, we are witnessing events analogous to the imperialist practices of the 19th and 20th centuries, as is the case with the United States of America and Russia