The 'Civilising Mission' of Portuguese Colonialism, 1870-1930

This book provides an historical critical analysis of the doctrine of the 'civilising mission' in Portuguese colonialism in the crucial period from 1870 to 1930. Exploring international contexts and transnational connections, imperial politics and colonial policies, this 'civilising mission' is analysed and assessed by examining the contentious debates about the recruitment, employment and distribution of African manpower, namely over the persistence of slavery, the emergence and legalisation of 'conditions analogous to slavery', and of other modalities of compulsory labour.
 

Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo is a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal. His interests focus on the Comparative Histories of Imperialism and Colonialism. He recently published A diplomacia do império and edited O império colonial em questão (2012) and co-edited Portugal e o fim do colonialism (2014).

PART I: THE 'CIVILIZATION GUILD': NATIVE LABOUR AND PORTUGUESE COLONIALISM
1. Between Benevolence and Inevitability: The 'Civilizing Mission' of Portuguese Colonialism
2. The Civilization Guild and the 'Engineers of Depression': The Case of the S. Thomé Cocoa
3. 'Redemptive Labour' and the Missionaries of the Alphabet
PART II: COLONIALISM WITHOUT BORDERS
4. Bibles, Flags and Transnational Loyalties: Educating Empires
5. New Methods, Old Conclusions: The Ross Report
6. Old Arguments, New Methods: Colonial Propaganda
Conclusion