The emergence of the identity card in Belgium and its colonies

Belgium was one of the first countries in Europe to use identity cards, starting out with a postal transactions card in 1909, followed by the introduction of the "Personalausweis" by the German occupier during the First World War. At first glance the implementation of the "eenzelvigheidskaart" after the war in 1919 seemed to be a logic consequence of the postal and German cards. The implementation of the "ethnic" identity card in Belgian colony Rwanda in 1933 has been indicated in research as a racist policy that contributed to the genocide in the 1990s. However, when looking more closely at both cases the picture becomes increasingly blurred and it becomes clear that when studying such social realities it is necessary to take into account both historical factors and the socio-technical assemblage of actors that shape the implementation. This assemblage encompasses a complicated series of social and policy choices, which come about through several articulations, desires and power relations that are influenced by a myriad of social, cultural, political and economical factors and function as drivers for the implementation of identity cards.
The chapter provides the first academic exploration of the drivers and motivations behind the emergence of the identity card in Belgium and its colonies and provides an analysis of how suggested paradigms within the surveillance studies corpus can contribute to a better understanding of this practice.