This thesis researches how and why the UNESCO sponsored General History of Africa (1964-1998) sought to Africanise and decolonise the writing of African history in the wake of the political... Show moreThis thesis researches how and why the UNESCO sponsored General History of Africa (1964-1998) sought to Africanise and decolonise the writing of African history in the wake of the political independence of many West and East African countries in the early 1960s. It provides a case-study on the practice of African historiography in the second half of the twentieth century. The thesis investigates how formulated ideals of a decolonisation were translated into practice and analyses what this might tell us about the establishment of African history within the humanities and the history of decolonising knowledge production. The study is divided in three parts: the first part concerns the formulated ideals of African history as they came into being in opposition to eurocentrism during the 1960s and early 1970s. Part two shifts the focus to the realities of the ideals discussed in part one. How did the historians of the GHA try to bring their ideals into practice and what came of them during the long process of drafting the GHA? The third and final part of the thesis focuses on the reception and retrospective perception of the project in its final years and after it was finished. Show less
Eurasians were privileged groups of mixed ancestry in Asian colonial societies. They were the result of unions between European males and indigenous women. They neither belonged to the... Show moreEurasians were privileged groups of mixed ancestry in Asian colonial societies. They were the result of unions between European males and indigenous women. They neither belonged to the colonizers, nor to the colonized. When colonization came to an end, the Eurasians found themselves in a difficult position. The European rulers, on which their status was based, were gone. The new indigenous rulers usually perceived them suspiciously as colonial remnants and sometimes even as traitors. In this chaotic, sometimes violent situation, they had to decide where they belonged: in the country of their European fathers or the former colony, the country of their Asian mothers. This was a serious dilemma since they only knew the mother country from stories and lessons at school. In this project I have compared the position and options of the Indo-Europeans with those of similar groups from two other former Asian co lonies, the Anglo-Indians from British India and the Métis people from French Indochina. This study of Eurasians from three former colonies showed that an emancipation paradox of acquiring more rights while discriminated against more at the same time was instrumental in creating the framework in which Eurasians had to make their choices. Show less
