Colonial Geography: Race and Space in German East Africa, 1884-1905

by Matthew Unangst

Overview

Colonial Geography charts changes in conceptions of the relationship between people and landscapes in mainland Tanzania during the German colonial period. In German minds, colonial development would depend on the relationship between East Africans and the landscape. Colonial Geography argues that the most important element in German imperialism was not its violence but its attempts to apply racial thinking to the mastery and control of space.

Utilizing approaches drawn from critical geography, the book argues that the development of a representational space of empire had serious consequences for German colonialism and the population of East Africa. Colonial Geography shows how spatial thinking shaped ideas about race and empire in the period of New Imperialism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487543402
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	07/22/2022
Series:	German and European Studies
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Matthew Unangst is an assistant professor of history at SUNY Oneonta.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

1. Introduction
2. Geographies of East Africa in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century
3. The Introduction of a Land-Based Approach to Colonization, 1884–1885
4. Inventing Hinterland: Historiography and Cultural Geography in the DOAG's Takeover of the Indian Ocean Coast, 1886–1888
5. The Emin Pasha Expedition, the German Right, and Reimagining East African Space, 1888–1890
6. The Bushiri War and Anti-Arab Internationalism
7. Rethinking the Spread of Kultur West
8. Creating Familiar Landscapes: Heimatkunde and African Spatialities, 1893–1900
9. Biogeography and Resettlement for Kultur
10. Conclusion

Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

Matthew P. Fitzpatrick

"The lens of cultural geography in East Africa is a fruitful one, and Matthew Unangst does very well to sustain it throughout this book. Colonial Geography takes seriously both events on the frontier and metropolitan figures such as Friedrich Ratzel. It offers a good sense of cultural geography and its development in relation to East Africa, and also shows that Africans had their own sense of their connection to their lands and how it should be managed."

James L. Giblin

"Colonial Geography is a stimulating and accessible examination of the intellectual currents which underlay German colonialism in East Africa. Its prose is direct, concise, and lucid and never resorts to jargon or ambiguity. The straightforward chronological order of the chapters enhances accessibility. Matthew Unangst contributes considerable insight on the changes of policy which marked the history of German East Africa."

Editorial Reviews

" Colonial Geography is a stimulating and accessible examination of the intellectual currents which underlay German colonialism in East Africa. Its prose is direct, concise, and lucid and never resorts to jargon or ambiguity. The straightforward chronological order of the chapters enhances accessibility. Matthew Unangst contributes considerable insight on the changes of policy which marked the history of German East Africa."

—James L. Giblin, Professor of African History, University of Iowa

"The lens of cultural geography in East Africa is a fruitful one, and Matthew Unangst does very well to sustain it throughout this book. Colonial Geography takes seriously both events on the frontier and metropolitan figures such as Friedrich Ratzel. It offers a good sense of cultural geography and its development in relation to East Africa, and also shows that Africans had their own sense of their connection to their lands and how it should be managed."

—Matthew P. Fitzpatrick, Professor of History, Flinders University

From the Publisher