The collapse of the gold standard in Africa: money and colonialism in the interwar period

Gardner, Leigh (2022) The collapse of the gold standard in Africa: money and colonialism in the interwar period. African Studies Review. ISSN 0002-0206

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Abstract

Research on Africa’s monetary history has tended to focus on the imposition of colonial currencies while neglecting the monetary upheavals which faced the colonial powers after the collapse of the gold standard during World War I. Gardner profiles three crises—in The Gambia, Kenya, and Liberia—resulting from shifting exchange rates between European currencies during the 1920s and 1930s. These three cases illustrate the degree to which colonial policies struggled to keep up with the economic turmoil affecting metropolitan states and bring Africa into the story of global monetary instability during the interwar period, which is often told only from a European perspective.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-st...
Additional Information:	© 2022 The Author
Divisions:	Economic History
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions D History General and Old World > DT Africa
JEL classification:	N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations > N17 - Africa; Oceania F - International Economics > F5 - International Relations and International Political Economy > F54 - Colonialism; Imperialism; Postcolonialism
Date Deposited:	22 Sep 2022 16:51
Last Modified:	21 Nov 2023 00:13
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/116665

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