Holger Droessler

In Coconut Colonialism, Holger Droessler examines the Samoan response through the lives of its workers. Ordinary Samoans—some on large plantations, others on their own small holdings—picked and processed coconuts and cocoa, tapped rubber trees, and built roads and ports that brought cash crops to Europe and North America. At the same time, Samoans redefined their own way of being in the world—what Droessler terms “Oceanian globality”—to challenge German and American visions of a global economy that in fact served only the needs of Western capitalism. Through cooperative farming, Samoans contested the exploitative wage-labor system introduced by colonial powers. The islanders also participated in ethnographic shows around the world, turning them into diplomatic missions and making friends with fellow colonized peoples. Samoans thereby found ways to press their own agendas and regain a degree of independence. Based on research in multiple languages and countries, Coconut Colonialism offers new insights into the global history of labor and empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Since the mid-19th century, the copra trade has created challenges and opportunities for Pacific Islanders, including Samoans. In the wake of formal annexation in 1900, German colonial officials tried repeatedly to force Samoans to work on foreign plantations for wages. In this article, I argue that Samoans resisted these demands in two major ways. On the one hand, the overwhelming majority of Samoans continued subsistence agriculture that offered greater control over their lives. On the other hand, Samoans selectively adapted to new economic circumstances. Occasionally, Samoans engaged in wage labour on Euro-American plantations to earn the cash needed for imported goods, government taxes and church donations. To circumvent the monopolistic practices of Euro-American traders, Samoans also founded copra cooperatives. These ultimately folded under coercion, but not without creating a crucial legacy for future anti-colonial resistance. In Samoa’s world of copra, sweetness and colonial power were tightly bound together.

This chapter explores the making of the colonial state in Samoa in the 1890s. The Samoan case offers new insights into the workings of the colonial state pre- cisely because nowhere else were Euro-American colonial projects as intertwined with and dependent on local support. In an unprecedented experiment in colonial rule, German, British, and American officials shared control over the Samoan islands from 1889 to 1899. This so-called tridominium, I argue, served as a colo- nial strategy of deferral for Euro-American officials anxious to diffuse escalating conflict over the distant islands. Contrary to plan, ongoing tensions among German, British, and American interests allowed Samoans to maintain consider- able political and economic autonomy. The main reason for the ultimate failure of the tridominium for Euro-American policy-makers lay in the uneven and incomplete exercise of colonial power over Samoans. Limitations in geography, people, and finance made the tridominium a weak colonial state. In addition, the lack of resources the respective metropolitan governments devoted to the distant archipelago in the South Pacific increased the relative influence of Samoan leaders and of the growing number of Samoans who joined the administration. Samoa in the 1890s serves as an important reminder that colonial rule was rarely clear-cut and never complete.

In this article, I explore the imperial history of Samoa in the context of President Barack Obama’s recent revalorization of the Pacific as a field of strategic interest for the United States. Samoa, I argue, deserves our attention because it represents a microcosm for the long history of U.S. imperialism in the Pacific, its various afterlives in the present, and, quite possibly, also the shape of things to come. First, I analyze the ways in which U.S. decision-makers perceived the South Pacific at the end of the nineteenth century as an increasingly important region for trade as well as the projection of military and political power. The result of this growing interest was a naval station in Pago Pago and the annexation of American Samoa in 1899, which remains an unincorporated territory of the United States to this day. Second, I trace continuities and changes in these dominant perceptions across the twentieth century into the still imperial present. Third and finally, I analyze how Samoans have continuously fought against the reductive perspectives from the imperial center which, ever since annexation, was more interested in the islands’ strategic location than in their inhabitants.

COURSE DESCRIPTION In this inquiry seminar, we will explore the most fascinating environments of our planet: oceans. From the 30,000-feet depths of the Mariana Trench to the 1,000-feet heights of tsunami waves, oceans cover vast vertical dimensions and over 70% of the earth's surface. The course will begin with an overview of oceanic history, focusing on the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Indian, and the Pacific Oceans. Students will then embark on an individual research project related to oceans, which they will share with the class. This seminar is appropriate for students with a background in history. REQUIREMENTS Class Participation 20%

COURSE DESCRIPTION Has colonialism ended? If so, when and where? And how can we practice decolonial thinking and living today? In this course, we will grapple with these and related questions to better understand how colonialism and decolonization have shaped our global present. Merging conceptual and geographical approaches, we will analyze the most important thinkers and activists associated with decoloniality from around the world. REQUIREMENTS Class Participation 25% Conference Report 10% Presentation 15%

In this inquiry seminar, we will examine one of the most important activities that humans engage in: work. The course will begin with a discussion of classic works in global labor history as well as more recent reflections on the future of work. Students will then embark on an individual research project related to the past, present, or future of work. These case studies of different types of work in different eras and places will help us delve deeper into the complexities of labor, capitalism, race, gender, and migration.

This course explores the rise of the United States from a hemispheric to a global power over the course of the twentieth century. Two world wars, a global depression, the Cold War, as well as a series of smaller but no less violent conflicts, dominated U.S. foreign relations during that long century. The course concludes with an outlook on America's role in a world marked by the rising influence of China and the global challenge of the climate crisis. Overall, we will not only learn about the history of U.S. foreign relations, but also practice the unique skills of historians: asking questions about change over time, finding evidence about the contexts of decision-making, and presenting cogent arguments in an engaging form. REQUIREMENTS Class Participation 30%

Throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. empire has been a driving force of technological innovation. In turn, technology-from tropical medicine and communication systems to nuclear weapons and the internet-has formed a crucial part in the arsenal of U.S. imperial power. In this introductory course, we will trace the intimate relationship between U.S. empire and technology from the War of 1898 to the present. Through selected case studies, we will not only learn about this rich history, but also practice the unique skills of historians: asking questions about change over time, finding evidence about the contexts of decision-making, and presenting your arguments in an engaging form. REQUIREMENTS Class Participation 30% Group Presentation 15% Primary Source Analysis I 10%