Pablo de Orellana
Search for other papers by Pablo de Orellana in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
With or without the metropole
Deferred sovereignty as instrument of racial governance
Abstract only
Log-in for full text

Structures of colonial governance such as ‘protectorates’ and ‘associated states’ are most frequently treated as extensions or puppets of Metropolitan sovereignty. Their practices, ideology and institutions are therefore often assumed to be extensions of the governance structures of the colonial power that control them. After the Second World War, however, French colonial administrations in Indochina – and later in Algeria – acted with impunity against orders, carried out their own diplomatic efforts, misled their governments as to their actions, countered policies from Paris and even started their own wars. This raises three key interrelated questions as to its character and practices as an instrument of international order and racial governance; how it made such contradictions possible; and the ideas that propelled such behaviour. These are explored through analysis of archival evidence of the case of French Indochinese colonial governance, diplomatic ideational and military practices from 1944 to 1949. This chapter reveals insights of relevance to understanding how colonial international instruments shaped aspects of contemporary global politics and sovereignty. Colonial administrations practised major sovereign privileges, particularly in diplomacy and policymaking. This was possible because sovereignty over the 1940s colony was removed from indigenous peoples through a mechanism of deferral, which established that until they were ‘ready’, sovereign powers should devolve not only to the colonial Metropole, but especially to European administrators and settlers. Deferred sovereignty made colonial governments into quasi-independent international actors that acted to defend the ethnic and racial theories and hierarchies that informed its very existence, institutions and practices – even against the will of the Metropole. Ultimately, the instrument of deferred sovereignty shaped not only colonies, their subjects and their administration, but also the metropoles and post-war international relations.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

All of MUP's digital content including Open Access books and journals is now available on manchesterhive.

 

Instruments of international order

Internationalism and diplomacy, 1900–50

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 352 352 34
Full Text Views 1 1 1
PDF Downloads 1 1 1