Rape and Racial Boundaries

In their efforts to govern African colonies through traditional rulers and customary law, British officials founded colonial administration on contested terrain. By committing themselves to uphold ‘native law and custom’ colonial officials linked the definition of Africans' legal rights with their social identities, which were, in turn, subject to conflicting interpretations. As agricultural growth and commercialisation intensified demand for land, competition for access to land and control over agricultural income gave rise to disputes over customary jurisdictions and structures of authority. Using evidence from colonial Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Kenya and Northern Rhodesia, this article argues that, under indirect rule, the commercialisation of transactions in rights to rural land was accompanied by, and served to promote, unresolved debate over their meaning.