University of Arkansas Historian Publishes Two Books on African History

Russell Cothren, University Relations

Todd Cleveland

In the last few weeks, Todd Cleveland, professor of history and a specialist on sub-Saharan Africa, has reached international audiences with two books published respectively in English and Portuguese.

The first, A History of Tourism in Africa: Exoticization, Exploitation, and Enrichment, was published by Ohio University Press in February 2021 as a social history of foreign tourists' dreams and expectations, the African tourism industry's efforts to fulfill them and an exploration of how both groups influence one another. 

The second book, Diamantes em Bruto: Paternalismo Corporativo e Profissionalismo Africano nas Minas da Angola Colonial, 1917-1975, was published in April 2021 by the Imprensa de História Contemporânea at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, in Lisbon, Portugal. It explores the lives of African laborers on Angola's diamond mines from the commencement of operations in 1917 to the colony's independence from Portugal in 1975.

In A History of Tourism in Africa, Cleveland shows how foreign tourists and resident tourism workers in Africa have mutually relied upon notions of exoticism since the 19th century, but they have done so from vastly different perspectives. Many who have traveled to the African continent fail to acknowledge or even realize that skilled African artists in the tourist industry repeatedly manufacture "authentic" experiences in order to fulfill foreigners' often delusional, or at least uninformed, expectations.

These carefully nurtured and controlled performances typically reinforce tourists' reductive impressions — formed over centuries — of the continent, its peoples and even its wildlife. Once back in their respective homelands, tourists' accounts of their travels often substantiate, and thereby reinforce, prevailing stereotypes of "exotic" Africa. Meanwhile, Africans' staged performances not only impact their own lives, primarily by generating remunerative opportunities, but also subject the continent's residents to objectification, exoticization and myriad forms of exploitation.

Diamantes em Bruto is a translated, Portuguese language version of Cleveland's 2015 book, Diamonds in the Rough: Corporate Paternalism and African Professionalism on the Mines of Colonial Angola, 1917-75 (Ohio University Press). It explores the history of workers in mines operated by the Diamond Company of Angola, or Diamang, which enjoyed exclusive mining and labor concessions granted by the Portuguese colonial government.

After a tumultuous initial period, the company's mines and mining encampments experienced a remarkable degree of stability, in striking contrast to the labor unrest and ethnic conflicts that flared in other regions. Cleveland explains that this unparalleled level of quietude was a product of three factors: African workers' high levels of social and occupational commitment, or "professionalism"; the extreme isolation of the mining installations; and efforts by Diamang to attract and retain scarce laborers through a calculated paternalism.

Ultimately, the disparity between the harshness of the colonial labor regime elsewhere and the relatively agreeable conditions and attendant professionalism of employees at Diamang opens up new ways of thinking about how Africans in colonial contexts engaged with forced labor, mining capital and ultimately, each other.

"Our department is excited about the publication of professor Cleveland's new work and delighted to see his previous work reach new audiences in translation," said Laurence Hare, chair of the Department of History. "Professor Cleveland has established himself as an international expert on Lusophone African history, and his work, with its broad reach and focus on such critical themes as labor, leisure and power, has not only advanced our understanding of these countries, but has also helped respatialize African history in a global frame." 

Cleveland is currently at work on a new book under contract with Cornell University Press exploring tourism and social mobility in Africa. A Portuguese translation of his writing on the history of Lusophone African soccer migrants to Europe is also forthcoming later in 2021.