Anthropology and Race in Belgium and Congo (1839-1922)

Book excerpt: "This books examines the history of Belgian physical anthropology in the long nineteenth century and discusses how the notion of race structured Belgian pasts and presents as well as relations between metropole and empire. In a context of competing European nationalisms, Belgian anthropologists mainly used physical characters, like skull form and the color of hair and eyes, to delimitate races, that were believed to be permanent and existent. Their belief in a supposed racial superiority was however above all telling about their own origins and physical characters. Although it is often assumed that these ideas were subsequently transferred to the colony, the case of Belgian colonization in Congo shows that colonial administrators, at least in theory, were reluctant to use the idea of permanent races because they needed the possibility of evolution to legitimize their actions as part of a civilizing mission. In reality however, colonization was based on military occupation and economic exploitation with devastating effects. This book analyses how in this violent context, widespread racial prejudices in fact dehumanized Congolese. This not only allowed colonizers to act inhume, but also reduced Congolese, or their body parts, to objects that could be measured, photographed, casted and collected. This volume will be of use to students and scholars alike interested in social and cultural history as well as imperial and colonial history"--