Humanitarian imperialism : the politics of anti-slavery activism, 1880-1940 / Amalia Ribi Forclaz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ribi Forclaz, Amalia, 1976- author.

Series:

Oxford historical monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Antislavery movements--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Antislavery movements.

Antislavery movements--Italy--History--19th century.

Antislavery movements--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Antislavery movements--Italy--History--20th century.

Slavery--Ethiopia--Public opinion.

Slavery.

Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935-1936--Moral and ethical aspects.

Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935-1936.

Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935-1936--Foreign public opinion.

Public opinion.

History.

Ethiopia--Foreign public opinion.

Ethiopia.

Italy.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

viii, 243 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Summary:

Between the late 1880s and the onset of the Second World War, anti-slavery activism experienced a revival in Europe. Anti-slavery organizations in Britain, Italy, France, and Switzerland forged an informal international network to fight the continued existence of slavery and slave trading in Africa. Humanitarian Imperialism explores the scope and outreach of these anti-slavery groups along with their organisational efforts and campaigning strategies. The account focuses on the interwar years, when slavery in Africa became a focal point of humanitarian and imperial interest, linking Catholic and Protestant philanthropists, missionaries of different faiths, colonial officials, diplomats, and political leaders in Africa and Europe. At the centre of the narrative is the campaign against slavery in Ethiopia, an issue which served as a catalyst for the articulation of international humanitarian standards within the League of Nations in Geneva. By looking at the interplay between British and Italian advocates of abolition, Humanitarian Imperialism shows how in the 1930s anti-slavery campaigning evolved in close association with Fascist imperialism. Thus, during the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935, the anti-slavery argument became a propaganda tool to placate public opinion in Britain and elsewhere. Because of its global echoes, however, the conflict also generated worldwide protest that undermined the beliefs and certainties of anti-slavery campaigners, resulting in a crisis of humanitarian imperialism. By following the story of anti-slavery activism into the post-1945 period, this volume illuminates the continuities and discontinuities in the international history of humanitarian organizations as well as the history of imperial humanitarianism. Book jacket.

Contents:

The anti-slavery revival, 1888-1914

The League of Nations and slavery, 1919-1926

Popular anti-slavery campaigns in Britain, 1927-1933

Italian anti-slavery, colonialism, Catholicism, and fascism, 1919-1933

The war on slavery

The crisis of anti-slavery activism

The end of humanitarian imperialism?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-236) and index.

ISBN:

9780198733034

0198733038

OCLC:

889738223