''An African Survey: A Study of Problems arising in Africa South of the Sahara'', often simply known as ''African Survey'', was a report originally published in 1938 which paved the way for the reorganisation of research into the situation of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

through the Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1940. The report was published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

and ran to 1,837 pages. It was subsequently republished in several revised editions.

Origins

The missionary

Joseph Oldham Joseph Houldsworth Oldham (1874–1969), known as J. H. or Joe, was a Scottish missionary in India, who became a significant figure in Christian ecumenism, though never ordained in the United Free Church as he had wished. Life J.H. Oldham was the s ...

played a key role in getting the survey under way. John Cell has argued that reference to

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...

in Lord Lothian's foreword to the work should not be given much weight. Smuts had advocated White settlement throughout the highlands of East Africa, with a view of creating a similar dominion to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. This proposal, centred on

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, lost out to other viewpoints. In 1931 Oldham got an agreement for the survey to be funded from the Carnegie Foundation, however a suitable director would have to be found. Three people declined the role,

William Marris William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

, George Schuster and Whitney Shephardson before the two year search was over.

Lionel Curtis Lionel George Curtis CH (1872–1955) was a British official and author. He advocated British Empire Federalism and, late in life, a world state. His ideas concerning dyarchy were important in the development of the Government of India Ac ...

, a friend of

Lord Hailey William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey, (15 February 1872 – 1 June 1969) known as Sir Malcolm Hailey between 1921 and 1936, was a British peer and administrator in British India. Education Hailey was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and ...

sounded him out and he was soon seen as an ideal candidate for the role. Hailey formally accepted the role in July 1933

The production of the survey

As director for the Survey and it established Hailey as a leading voice calling for colonial reform in the 1940s. Hailey had retired from a career in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and whilst it was officially claimed he would bring "fresh eyes" to Britain's African territories, it has also been suggested that there was a hope that a similar method of controlling separate African territories could be established as had been done in India. He was aided by

Lucy Mair Lucy Philip Mair (28 January 1901 – 1 April 1986) was a British anthropologist. She wrote on the subject of social organization, and contributed to the involvement of anthropological research in governance and politics. Her work on colonial ...

and

Audrey Richards Audrey Isabel Richards, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, FRAI, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (8 July 1899 – 29 June 1984), was a pioneering British social an ...

, both

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

students of Bronisław Malinowski, who were seconded to the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

; E. B. Worthington, a Cambridge biologist who assisted with a scientific survey; and

Hilda Matheson Hilda Matheson, OBE (7 June 1888 – 30 October 1940) was a pioneering English radio talks producer at the BBC and its first Director of Talks. After resigning from the BBC in 1931, she published a book on the development of broadcasting. Though ...

, who was hired as a secretary to the project, but ended up serving more as an executive manager of the endeavor. Hailey was ill from 1937-8, and much of the work was taken up by Frederick Pedler who took over editorial responsibility during this period. One of the key points made by the report was that rather than have research develop as a piece-meal response to specific problems, it should be integrated into an overall plan with suitable funding from the treasury. The report became a regular item to be found on administrators desks across colonial British Africa.

References

{{reflist Social sciences books Books about Africa 1938 non-fiction books Books about imperialism