Sielemann, Rasmus Basse. Natures of Conduct: Governmentality and the Danish West Indies. Dissertation. University of Copenhagen, 2015,

This dissertation analyzes the processes of governmentality in the Danish West Indies from the late eighteenth century to the end of Danish rule in 1917. The theoretical framework of the analysis is constructed from a reading of Michel Foucault’s work in the late 1970s on the problematics, techniques, and rationalities of government in Western Europe. Foucault’s investigations took the form of a historical genealogy that he referred to as “the history of governmentality.” He argued that governmentality deployed itself as a configuration of dispositions of power in the form of “economies of power.” This theoretical framework is applied in three chapters that analyses the biopolitics of slavery, the government of penal techniques, and the political economy of labor after slavery respectively. The dissertation argues that parallel to the development of governmental practice in Europe, programs of government in the Danish West Indies were increasingly premised on the reality and sanctity of the nature of “population,” “society,” and “economy” that would have to be respected and taken into consideration. This principle also extended to a conception of the nature of the Afro-Caribbean colonial subjects. The conformity and adherence to the perceived naturalness of colonial subjects had the unintended effect of stifling projects of social progress in the area of penitentiary reform as well as the organization of labor. In the weighing of utility and freedom, the “nature of the negro” tipped the scale towards prioritizing utility. As a result, the freedom of former slaves was limited to the extent that they manifested their disscontempt in violent riots and strikes. To interpret this development simply as a retreat to repressive forms of power and the failure of liberal principles in the colonial context, clouds the complex character of liberal governmentality in general. The limitation of Afro-Caribbean freedoms was not installed in spite of liberal rationalities, but in conformity with an ambivalent logic of improvement inherent in liberalism itself. 

Denne afhandling analyserer de dansk vestindiske øers guvernementalitets- processer fra slutningen af attenhunderedetallet til afslutningen af det danske herredømme i 1917. Analysens teoretiske ramme bygger på en læsning af Michel Foucaults arbejde i slutningen af 1970’erne med ledelsesproblematikker, -teknikker og -rationaliteter i Vesteuropa. Foucaults undersøgelser udformede sig som en historisk genealogi, hvilket han omtalt som “guvernementalitetens historie.” Han hævdede, at ledelsesrationalitet indsatte sig selv som en konfiguration af dispositioner af magt i form af ‘magt-økonomier.’ Denne teoretiske ramme anvendes i tre kapitler, der henholdsvis analyserer slaveriets biopolitik, ledelsen af straffeteknikker og arbejdskraftens politisk økonomi efter slaveriets ophævelse. Afhandlingen argumenterer for, at parallelt med udviklingen af ledelsespraksis i Europa, blev begreberne ‘befolkning’, ‘samfund’ og ‘økonomi’ tildelt en naturlig virkelighed og hellighed, som politiske programmer i Dansk Vestindien i stigende grad var nødsaget til at respektere og tage højde for. Dette princip var også gældende for opfattelsen af de afro-caribiske subjekters natur. Den forudfattede tilpasningen af ledelsesteknikker til de koloniale subjekters naturlighed, havde den utilsigtede effekt, at sociale fremskridtsprocesser i forhold til reformer af straffevæsenet, samt organiseringen af arbejdskraft, blev bremset. I afvejningen af ‘nytte’ i forhold til ‘frihed,’ havde “negerens natur” den effekt at nytte blev prioriteret højest. Som følge heraf blev de tidligere slavers frihed begrænset i en sådan grad, at de manifesterede deres modstand i form af voldelige optøjer og strejker. At fortolke denne udvikling blot som en tilbagevending til repressive former for magt og mislykkede liberale principper i den koloniale kontekst, skygger for den liberale ledelsesrationalitets kompleksitet. Begrænsningen af afro-caribiernes friheder blev ikke installeret på trods af liberale ledelsesprincipper, men i overensstemmelse med en ambivalent forbedringslogik, indlejret i selve liberalimens ledelsesrationalitet.

PDF: https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/149081650/Ph.d._afhandling_2015_Sielemann.pdf.