Under colonial rule, the ability to infiltrate physical spaces over large distances was regarded as crucial for broadcasting authority over colonial subjects. Therefore, German spatial interventions aimed at extending the state’s reach to a hinterland hitherto perceived as remote. After 1900, the colonial administration began to invest in large-scale infrastructure programs, namely a planned network of 1,200 miles of all-weather roads and two railroad lines. They were expected to function as instruments of domination and control and to replace pre-colonial systems of circulation.
Focusing on the trajectories of this infrastructure, the paper explores the contestation of space between the colonial state, non-colonial African actors, and the environment. In doing so, the paper focuses on three crucial elements of power: to organize labor, to inscribe colonial rule into space, and to make others use the new spatial arrangements. As the analysis will demonstrate, most efforts to build durable roads failed because of the devastating effects of nature. Moreover, they were subverted by the agency of those primarily using the roads, local villagers as well as caravan porters, who refused to perform maintenance works and did not adapt to colonial patterns of movement.
Arguing that the construction, maintenance, and (dis-)use of state-sponsored infrastructure give evidence of the colonial state’s abilities and limits, the paper highlights how African actors obstructed the production of colonial spaces. As the paper demonstrates, the colonial ambitions to implement power through spatial arrangements were a highly contested area.