Africa's borders in colonial and postcolonial contexts

Abstract

This paper re-examines colonial borders as both a footprint of colonialism in Africa and an important analytical concept for understanding meanings of decolonization in the continent. A well-established view is that decolonization in the continent remains incomplete in the presence of borders that were created by, and for, former colonial powers. That view carries with it assumptions about colonialism which need to be tested against lived experiences and findings from research on border studies. This paper makes three observations that are crucial to discussions on the links between decolonization and borders in Africa. The first is that some of the assumptions about the coloniality of Africa's borders are based on ill-conceived notions of borders. Second, the obsession with national borders as the foundation for a colonial and postcolonial state marginalizes other important elements of colonial borders, namely, the creation of regions of empire and the roles of sub-national borders in colonial and postcolonial state-building exercises. Third, the environmental discourse which supports the creation of transborder environments has added a new dimension to the meaning and process of decolonization. The paper calls for a robust conceptualization of border changes in, and for, Africa.