Europeans have militarily subjugated and occupied Africa in part because they were on a 'civilising mission', in which they perceived themselves to be 'rescuing' Africans from savagery and barbarism. Among others, Race and the Civilizing Mission explores one central question: the role of race in the European ideology underpinning colonialism. Arguing that the 'civilising mission' was really nothing but an instrument used to propagate 'whiteness' at the expense of 'blackness', Wariboko challenges and re-evaluates the whole idea of the 'civilising mission'.