British Paternalism and Africa, 1920–1940

British Paternalism and Africa (1978) is a study of the beliefs and assumptions of members of the British intelligentsia who concerned themselves with British–African politics in the period between the wars. The journals and books published in Britain during this period were used as source material to discover the attitudes of politicians, missionaries, administrators and others concerning ‘African’ issues. In the two decades before the Second World War the debate about the future of the African colonies still seemed to be the preserve of Europeans, anxious to influence British politics according to their own particular brand of paternalism. It is argued that some writers still used arguments about Britain’s ‘civilizing’ mission, while others emphasised the need for a period of reconstruction of African society, to be carried out before independence could be granted. Only the Marxist-Leninist writers rejected doctrines which implied the necessity for continued European presence in Africa.