Human Porterage and Colonial State Formation in German East Africa, 1880s–1914

Beschreibung

This book is a major contribution to African labor history, the history of everyday life under colonialism, and the history of logistics.”

— Michelle Moyd, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA 

“This superbly researched and clearly argued book provides fresh insights into the limitations and legacies of colonial rule and the transformations it engendered.” 

— Andreas Eckert, Humboldt University Berlin, German 

This book explores the role of caravan transport and human porterage in the colony of German East Africa (present-day mainland Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi). With caravan mobility being of pivotal importance to colonial rule during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the exploration of vernacular transport and its governance during this period sheds new light on the trajectories of colonial statehood. The author addresses key questions such as the African resilience to colonial interventions, the issue of labor recruitment, and the volatility of colonial infrastructure. This book unveils a fundamental contradiction in the way that German administrators dealt with precolonial modes of transport in East Africa. While colonizers championed for the abolishment of caravan transport, they strongly depended on porters in the absence of pack animals or railways. To bring this contradiction to the fore, the author studies the shifting role of caravans in East Africa during the era of ‘high imperialism.’ Uncovering the extent to which porters and caravan entrepreneurs challenged and shaped colonial policymaking, this book provides an insightful read for historians studying German Empire and African history, as well as those interested in the history of transport and infrastructure. 

Andreas Greiner is a research fellow in global and transregional history at the German Historical Institute Washington (GHI), in the USA.. Before joining the GHI, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Max Weber Program at the European University Institute in Florence and a research assistant for the Chair of Modern History at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich).

This book explores the role of caravan transport and human porterage in the colony of German East Africa (present-day mainland Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi). With caravan mobility being of pivotal importance to colonial rule during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the exploration of vernacular transport and its governance during this period sheds new light on the trajectories of colonial statehood. The author addresses key questions such as the African resilience to colonial interventions, the issue of labor recruitment, and the volatility of colonial infrastructure. This book unveils a fundamental contradiction in the way that German administrators dealt with precolonial modes of transport in East Africa. While colonizers championed for the abolishment of caravan transport, they strongly depended on porters in the absence of pack animals or railways. To bring this contradiction to the fore, the author studies the shifting role of caravans in East Africa during the era of ‘high imperialism.’ Uncovering the extent to which porters and caravan entrepreneurs challenged and shaped colonial policymaking, this book provides an insightful read for historians studying German Empire and African history, as well as those interested in the history of transport and infrastructure. 

Autor*in

Andreas Greiner

Themen in »Human Porterage and Colonial State Formation in German East Africa, 1880s–1914«

history of transport caravan colonialism African transport mobility labour German Empire infrastructure colonial state formation porters policymaking East Africa Sub-Saharan Africa colonial statehood colonial capitalism

Stimmen zu »Human Porterage and Colonial State Formation in German East Africa, 1880s–1914«

“Andreas Greiner’s book, based on his PhD dissertation, explores the tensions of porterage and caravan transport in German East Africa during the three decades of German colonial occupation. ... The book is composed of seven chapters, including the 'Introduction' and the 'Epilogue.' ... The book convincingly shows that conflict and compromise were part of the German colonial presence in Tanzania.” (Pedro Cerdeira, The Journal of Transport History, January 19, 2026)

“Employing the evocative concept of ‘vernacular mobility,’ Greiner’s study of East African transport workers, caravan entrepreneurs, and German colonial efforts to govern them is an authoritative history of African transportation logistics and ‘the porter question.’ The book examines internal caravan dynamics and the many individual choices African workers made as participants in the harsh yet indispensable labor regime of long-distance, and often trans-colonial, porterage. At the same time, Greiner’s analysis explores colonial efforts to govern porterage to serve German interests, showing the limits of the colonial state’s ability to regulate the caravans. Colonial officials were vexed by a problem of their own making: they viewed porterage as a practical necessity on one hand, and as a plague in need of eradication in favor of a fantasy version of railway modernity on the other. Greiner’s meticulous and fascinating research, expressed in clear and well-organized prose, demonstrates that African transport workers exercised certain forms of autonomy, even as they were constrained by colonialism’s multifaceted violence. This book is a major contribution to African labor history, the history of everyday life under colonialism, and the history of logistics.” (Michelle Moyd, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA)

“The European claim to colonize mobility was characterized by weakness and violence. Illustrating the example of caravan transport and human porterage in German East Africa, Andreas Greiner offers a sophisticated analysis of the dynamics and tensions that shaped colonial policy-making, as well as of the potential of Africans to participate in this process. This superbly researched and clearly argued book provides fresh insights into the limitations and legacies of colonial rule and the transformations it engendered.” (Andreas Eckert, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany)

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