States of Imitation

Late Western colonialism often relied on the practice of imitating indigenous forms of rule in order to maintain power; conversely, indigenous polities could imitate Western sociopolitical forms to their own benefit. Drawing on historical ethnographic studies of colonialism in Asia and Africa, States of Imitation examines how the colonial state attempted to administer, control, and integrate its indigenous subjects through mimetic governmentality, as well the ways indigenous states adopted these imitative practices to establish reciprocal ties with, or to resist the presence of, the colonial state.

Patrice Ladwig is a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, and a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge.

Ricardo Roque is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa), and an Honorary Associate in the Department of History at the University of Sydney.

“This delightful collection of studies from Lusophone and Francophone colonies finally advances us beyond the critique of colonial representations, to an ethnography of the ambiguities and risks of a reciprocal colonial presence.” • Peter Pels, Leiden University