The Dilution of Colonial Capital

Simon Bittmann ()
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Simon Bittmann: IRISSO - Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Sciences Sociales - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement

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Abstract: This article studies how a major imperial bank reorganized its colonial assets during decolonization. Bridging postcolonial business history with international political economy, we shift the focus from colonial subsidiaries and business-state relations to imperial finance; providing a panoptic view on the blowback of decolonization. We suggest the notion of dilution of colonial capital to understand the broader répertoire at hand: the end of empire involved three interrelated outcomes, with the bank's management deciding either to absorb profitable venturesas part of a concentrated portfolio rather than through specialized subsidiaries -diversify -with capital moving out of ex-colonies, and foreign capital moving in -and retreat -when capital was pulled back because of sovereign claims. Ultimately, decolonization proved a real disruption, but the outcome was less a depletion of capital than a shift towards greater private-sector control, through more globalized and commodity-focused asset structures.

Keywords: Decolonization; Finance; Business History; Political Economy; Postcolonial Theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-08-05
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