Constructing colonial hegemony in the Somaliland protectorate, 1941-1960

Abstract

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See More This thesis is about the structure of colonial cultural hegemony in British Somaliland in the late colonial period, 1941-1960. The narrative takes 1941 as its starting point because that date marks a radical discontinuity in the activities of the British administration. In August 1940, Italy invaded and occupied Somaliland. Seven months later, the British re-conquered the territory, and began "a new historic chapter in the history of British Somaliland."1 The military administration ended the policy of care and maintenance that was in force in the territory in the early colonial period, and introduced a new policy of "social development, welfare services and education"2 under which "administration and social services (were extended) throughout the Protectorate: the old days of the coast administration based on Berbera had gone for ever." 3 The policy of social and economic development was established within the framework of mass education, which linked different aspects of colonial social and economic development: formal and informal education, public health, political reform, and community development. All were considered as inseparable aspects of the "one programme of mass education." This thesis analyses that one programme of mass education. It argues that mass education played a central role in the construction and reinforcement of colonial cultural hegemony in Somaliland in the era of decolonisation. 1Lord Rennell of Rodd, 'British Military Administration of Occupied Territories in Africa During the Years 1941-1947' (London: HMSO, 1948), p.487. 2PRO, INF 1/567/339, The Deputy Principle Information Officer, Hargeisa, to the Principle Information Officer, East African Command, 4 July 1944. 3I. M. Lewis, 'A Modern History of Somalia: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa' (Boulder: Westview Press, 1988), p. 132. Lewis's work deals with the colonial histories of both (British) Somaliland and (Italian) Somalia. Because the two countries formed a federation in 1 July 1960 called "Somali Republic". This focus of this thesis is on Somaliland.