Assessing Agency in Colonial Africa: Pan-Africanism as African Agency

Abstract

The effect of colonial rule in Africa changed forever its history. The primary objective of colonialism was to use an area's tangible, human, and economic skills to benefit the colonizing nation. The historical context is an essential concept that extends through many Pan-Africanist writings that connect with African countries and the advantages of cooperation in combating (neo)colonial rule and imperialism in Africa. Pan-Africanism and Africa as a continent actively participated in the fight against colonization and liberation processes. Pan-Africanism is a global initiative, idea, and geopolitical movement aimed at emancipating and integrating Africans and Africans in the diaspora. Pan-Africanism is also discussed in this study as an intellectual protest against the mistreatment of African Americans worldwide and colonialism. Pan-Africanism is viewed as an attempt by its advocates to recover what they consider unique African indigenous notions concerning society, culture, and value systems. Pan-Africanists influenced how African countries' political, economic, social, and security should be addressed, refusing to be silent subjects and survivors of colonialism. This article critically examines the contributions of Pan-Africanism to the nexus of African agency debate in the broader spectrum of great power-small power relationships, particularly during the era of colonialism. The article emphasizes the colonial empire as a great power and Africa as a minor power in the tussle of what was known as "gunboat diplomacy," the primary strategy used by the colonizers to conquer territories on the continent of Africa. What were the approaches, who were the actors, and the grand geopolitical strategies employed to influence the complex relationship between the colonies and the colonialists? The qualitative research approach was used in collecting information, analyzing, and interpreting the data. Both secondary works and primary sources were consulted. The secondary sources used included (online) archival materials, speeches, books, and journal articles, which helped provide information to shape the arguments made. The primary sources were mainly oral information and were sourced from unstructured interviews with persons (including academics and practitioners) with relevant backgrounds and knowledge in Pan-Africanism, colonialism, and agency (in international relations) via the purposive sampling method. The information gleaned from the interviews aided the data obtained from secondary sources. To achieve the set objectives, the data were compared with other extant studies. Relying on the sources above of data and other publications, sifted through the functionalism and neo-functionalism theories, the article contends that the Pan-African thinkers and advocates were significant actors in the fight against European dominance in Africa and provided a gateway for the final nationalist movement and liberation of the continent. Pan-Africanism as a movement engaged, shaped, negotiated, accommodated, and resisted colonial involvement and imperialism in Africa; it impacted the actions, relations, and policies of the colonialists in Africa during the colonial era through several approaches, including public protests, conferences/congresses, both national and international pressure groups, poems, songs, as well as other writings.  Keywords: Pan-Africanism, colonialism, African agency, functionalism, neo-functionalism