De-missionise education? An exploration of the colonial legal framework for Protestant missionaries’ provision of education in South Africa and Zambia c. 1880 to 1930

PhD Project

There is limited research on legal actors outside the formal state during the British empire, particularly in terms of their provision of services to the indigenous population and their corresponding legal authority. This research will address this existing gap in understanding the legal basis upon which Protestant missionaries (hereafter referred to as missionaries) were empowered to take on the influential task of educating indigenous populations in Northern Rhodesia and South Africa between 1880 and 1930. Given that there is currently more literature on the topic from an anthropological point of view, a comparative historical legal analysis will: (1) increase understanding of the legal connectivity of education within the colonial law framework, (2) consider missionaries as legal actors, (3) and explore the role of the law in shaping education for the indigenous population. The research next assesses the extent to which education contributed to the ‘civilising mission’ by both colonists and missionaries –particularly how this impacted the law in terms of entrenching the constructs of race and gender. The legal analysis will contribute to the contemporary issue regarding what ‘decolonising education’ entails by scrutinising the historical legal roots of the present-day education system. Through analysis of archival sources, this research will outline the legal basis with which the missionaries were empowered to provide education – both prior to and during the formal colonial state together with changes in colonial administration. This research therefore considers the extent to which missionaries were fundamental contributors to the construction of formal education in the case studies. Resultantly, ‘decolonising education’ requires a more scrutinising look at educational contributors, particularly beyond the state-centric focus.