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• W2233695379 abstract "Recent work by scholars on the early colonial history of the Congo basin has made reference to the subject of customs and contraband. Their work has focused mainly on how smuggling networks operated across the borders of the Congo Free State (CFS). As a result of this perspective on traffickers, the role of Leopold's administration has tended to be oversimplified. Illicit trade is usually presented as an issue that the Free State attempted, but failed, to curb. This representation of the colonial attitude towards trafficking is at odds with the general literature on contraband, which paints a rather different picture of the relationship between the state and smugglers. Rather than trying to stop trafficking, states usually tolerated contraband and had no knowledge of the majority of trafficking operations. Smuggling was tolerated because monitoring and taxing cross-border trade effectively was not considered to be cost-effective or was thought to be impossible. State rule also had to be negotiated in border regions with local elites who monopolized most local economic resources: a further reason why trafficking was often tolerated. States were unaware of most trafficking because the same officials that were supposed to monitor cross-border trade were usually involved in smuggling themselves. By focusing on customs and contraband in the M'Bomu basin this article aims to fill in the gaps in current research on smuggling and border control in the CFS. Firstly, I examine to what extent colonial agents were involved in trafficking. Secondly, the article investigates whether Leopold's administration was aware of smuggling and how far illicit commerce was tolerated. Finally, the article tries to explain why the Free State dealt with contraband as it did. I explore to what extent customs practices in the M'bomu borderland were based on a cost-benefit analysis and how far the attitude towards contraband might be explained by the negotiation of colonial rule with local elites. This article demonstrates that the Free State and its agents were involved in trafficking in various ways. The CFS established a system of rule and exploitation that encouraged European officials to smuggle for the benefit of the state. Whether Leopold's men and their African soldiers also trafficked on their own account is less clear. We do have a lot of information about the contraband activities of the sultans who ruled and exploited the majority of the M'Bomu basin in Leopold's name. The Free State understood little about the smuggling that went on in the M'Bomu basin. Gradually, however, there was growing awareness amongst colonial officials. Nevertheless, tolerance usually prevailed with only a few futile measures taken to curb contraband. The CFS was convinced that the cost of controlling the uncontrollable M'Bomu border would exceed the benefit. Nevertheless, this cost-benefit analysis only partly explains the colonial attitude towards smuggling. This article argues that the Free State and its agents were involved in trafficking and were either unaware of contraband or tolerated illicit commerce because colonial rule in the M'Bomu basin was organized so as to extract as much revenue as possible, as fast as possible, and at the lowest possible cost. The pressure to maximize revenue led the Free State to establish a system of rule and exploitation that encouraged its local agents to extract a surplus by all means possible, including through trafficking. At the same time the M'Bomu region had to be ruled and exploited at the lowest possible cost. The very limited administration was unable to detect, understand or curb trafficking. Moreover, administering the M'Bomu basin at the lowest possible cost forced the Free State to outsource the rule and exploitation of the majority of the borderland to local rulers. These local rulers, however, had large stakes in cross-border trade and continued to smuggle on a wide scale despite their incorporation into the colonial administration. Because colonial rule was negotiated with the local elite, their smuggling had to be tolerated." @default.
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• W2233695379 date "2014-01-01" @default.
• W2233695379 modified "2023-09-26" @default.
• W2233695379 title "The blurred lines of legality. Customs and contraband in the Congolese M'Bomu region, 1889-1908" @default.
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