German Colonialism in Microcosm: A Thesis by Professor Brian Tukana Otlhabanye Mokopakgosi (1988).
This book was not commercially published, but rather an original, bound doctoral dissertation submitted in 1988 to the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.
Written by the prominent Botswana historian and academic Professor Brian Tukana Otlhabanye Mokopakgosi, this work holds deep historical and analytical significance within Southern African historiography:
A Blueprint for the "Cheap Empire" Flaw
Mokopakgosi’s thesis tackles a critical economic delusion of German imperial strategy: the reliance on concessionaire companies (such as the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für Südwestafrika).
The Concept: Imperial Germany, hesitant to fully fund the administrative costs of its newly acquired territory in South West Africa (modern-day Namibia), outsourced the development, infrastructure, and governance to private commercial monopolies.
The Reality: Instead of introducing long-term developmental capital, these companies engaged in speculative extraction for quick financial returns. Mokopakgosi systematically demonstrates how this "cheap empire" model backfired, forcing the German imperial state to repeatedly step in with massive subsidies and military protection, making it far more expensive than planned.
Economic Triggers of the Herero and Nama Genocide
A central pillar of the dissertation (specifically explored in Chapters 4 and 5) argues that the root cause of the Herero-Nama Resistance (1904–1908) lay in the aggressive, predatory behavior of these very companies.
Rather than developing pristine lands, concessionaires actively squeezed the indigenous populations by monopolizing vital water sources, expropriating cattle, and driving through railway lines that fractured traditional grazing lands.
Mokopakgosi connects corporate greed directly to the structural impoverishment and desperation that left the local populations with no choice but to take up arms, triggering a brutal military response that resulted in the first genocide of the 20th century.
The Academic Legacy of the Author
Brian T.O. Mokopakgosi went on to become a widely respected scholar and administrator, serving as a history professor at the University of Botswana and contributing extensively to academic works charting Namibia’s eventual transition to independence in 1990.
As a piece of revisionist history from the late 1980s, this thesis represents a crucial shift in African studies—moving away from looking purely at political and military colonial structures, and instead mapping out the raw, corporate-backed capitalism that drove imperial exploitation on the ground.
220mm x 300mm x 64mm (thick heavy book).
583 pages. Bottom edge a bit stained.
R1,000
