Private Entrepreneurship and European Imperialism: Dutch Entrepreneurs in the Scramble for Africa, 1830s-1910s...

— —

Gijs Dreijer

Private Entrepreneurship and European Imperialism

Name: Private Entrepreneurship and European Imperialism
Price: 96.25 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9783032010858

Dutch Entrepreneurs in the Scramble for Africa, 1830s-1910s

Gijs Dreijer

$119.95 $96.25

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We will update you on expected arrival time to us. If this delay is too long, please let us know within 2 business days and we can give you options regarding cancelling or adjusting your order. More details on cancelling your order can be found in our Terms of Trade.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Palgrave Macmillan
21 February 2026

European history; Colonialism & imperialism; Political economy; Economic history; Entrepreneurship

Series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History

This open access book presents a groundbreaking new perspective on European imperialism in Africa, by focusing on the role of Dutch private entrepreneurs in colonial activities during the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’. Distinguishing between a state-based ‘Partition of’ and an actor-based ‘Scramble for’ Africa, the book illustrates this process by tracking the entrepreneurial strategy of a group of Dutch entrepreneurs in the Scramble, at a time when the Dutch state itself largely withdrew from the African continent. This book thus investigates why and how nineteenth-century Dutch entrepreneurs from the port city of Rotterdam invested significant resources in West and West Central Africa between the 1830s and the 1910s. It demonstrates the trans-national nature of colonial investments in the Scramble for Africa, highlighting the crucial role Dutch entrepreneurs played in trade, production and investment in empires across West and West Central Africa (the Congo Free State, French Congo and Portuguese Angola). The book aims to rethink the Dutch role in European imperialism more broadly and its repercussions in the present day.

The book takes into account the social and political implications of colonial entrepreneurship as much as the economic and business implications, going beyond a strictly entrepreneurial analysis of success and failure. It will be essential reading for scholars of economic and business history, as well as historians of imperialism, colonialism and trans-imperial relations.

By: Gijs Dreijer
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Country of Publication: Switzerland
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 148mm,
ISBN: 9783032010858
ISBN 10: 3032010853
Series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History
Pages: 319
Publication Date: 21 February 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The Scramble for and Partition of West (Central) Africa.- Chapter 3: Dutch Entrepreneurs in the Early Scramble for Africa (1830s-1870s).- Chapter 4: Dutch Entrepreneurs in the Partition of Africa (1880s-1890s).- Chapter 5: Dutch Entrepreneurship in the Era of the Concession Companies (1899-192).- Chapter 6: Dutch Entrepreneurs in the Compagnie du Kasaï 1885-1910.- Chapter 7: Conclusion.- Chapter 8: Epilogue.

Gijs Dreijer is a postdoctoral researcher presently working on a grant from the Gerda Henkel Foundation on Dutch entrepreneurs in nineteenth-century Africa, and a lecturer at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University, The Netherlands, and the Alfred D. Chandler Jr. International Visiting Fellow at Harvard Business School. His PhD dissertation on sixteenth-century maritime law in Antwerp was awarded the Frank Broeze Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Maritime History. His research interests focus on economic, business, maritime and imperial history.