The Problem Of French Colonial Doctrine 1890 1914

Until the close of the nineteenth century, French colonial theory was based on the idea of assimilation, which gave France the responsibility for "civilizing" its colonies by absorbing them administratively and culturally. By the turn of the twentieth century, this idea had given way to the theory of association, which held that France's new empire could be better served by a more flexible policy in which the colonized become partners with France in the colonial project. Raymond F. Betts examines the pivotal shift in colonial theory within the metropole, the debate that it generated, and its intellectual origins. A landmark book in the field of French colonial theory, Assimilation and Association in French Colonial Theory, 1890-1914, has served as the central point of reference for every major colonial historian during the four decades since its original publication in 1961. Available in paperback for the first time, with a new preface by the author, this edition will interest all students of colonialism and introduce many younger scholars to what remains the best and most original book in the field. Raymond F. Betts is a professor of history emeritus at the University of Kentucky and an expert in modern European imperialism. His many books include Decolonization and A History of Popular Culture: More of Everything, Faster, and Brighter.

Over recent decades, the responsibility for the past actions of the European colonial powers in relation to their former colonies has been subject to a lively debate. In this book, the question of the responsibility under international law of former colonial States is addressed. Such a legal responsibility would presuppose the violation of the international law that was applicable at the time of colonization. In the ‘Scramble for Africa’ during the Age of New Imperialism (1870-1914), European States and non-State actors mainly used cession and protectorate treaties to acquire territorial sovereignty (imperium) and property rights over land (dominium). The question is raised whether Europeans did or did not on a systematic scale breach these treaties in the context of the acquisition of territory and the expansion of empire, mainly through extending sovereignty rights and, subsequently, intervening in the internal affairs of African political entities.

Violence was prominent in France?s conquest of a colonial empire, and the use of force was integral to its control and regulation of colonial territories. What, if anything, made such violence distinctly colonial? And how did its practitioners justify or explain it? These are issues at the heart of The French Colonial Mind: Violence, Military Encounters, and Colonialism. The second of two linked volumes, this book brings together prominent scholars of French colonial history to explore the many ways in which brutality and killing became central to the French experience and management of empire. Sometimes concealed or denied, at other times highly publicized and even celebrated, French violence was so widespread that it was in some ways constitutive of colonial identity. Yet such violence was also destructive: destabilizing for its practitioners and lethal or otherwise devastating for its victims. The manifestations of violence in the minds and actions of imperialists are investigated here in essays that move from the conquest of Algeria in the 1830s to the disintegration of France?s empire after World War II. The authors engage a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the violence of first colonial encounters to conflicts of decolonization. Each considers not only the forms and extent of colonial violence but also its dire effects on perpetrators and victims. Together, their essays provide the clearest picture yet of the workings of violence in French imperialist thought.

Looking at decolonization in the conditional tense, this volume teases out the complex and uncertain ends of British and French empire in Africa during the period of ‘late colonial shift’ after 1945. Rather than view decolonization as an inevitable process, the contributors together explore the crucial historical moments in which change was negotiated, compromises were made, and debates were staged. Three core themes guide the analysis: development, contingency and entanglement. The chapters consider the ways in which decolonization was governed and moderated by concerns about development and profit. A complementary focus on contingency allows deeper consideration of how colonial powers planned for ‘colonial futures’, and how divergent voices greeted the end of empire. Thinking about entanglements likewise stresses both the connections that existed between the British and French empires in Africa, and those that endured beyond the formal transfer of power.

This handbook offers a global view of the historical development of educational institutions, systems of schooling, ideas about education, and educational experiences. Its 36 chapters consider changing scholarship in the field, examine nationally-oriented works by comparing themes and approaches, lend international perspective on a range of issues in education, and provide suggestions for further research and analysis. Like many other subfields of historical analysis, the history of education has been deeply affected by global processes of social and political change, especially since the 1960s. The handbook weighs the influence of various interpretive perspectives, including revisionist viewpoints, taking particular note of changes in the past half century. Contributors consider how schooling and other educational experiences have been shaped by the larger social and political context, and how these influences have affected the experiences of students, their families and the educators who have worked with them. The Handbook provides insight and perspective on a wide range of topics, including pre-modern education, colonialism and anti-colonial struggles, indigenous education, minority issues in education, comparative, international, and transnational education, childhood education, non-formal and informal education, and a range of other issues. Each contribution includes endnotes and a bibliography for readers interested in further study.

Over the past five centuries, advances in Western understanding of and control over the material world have strongly influenced European responses to non-Western peoples and cultures. In Machines as the Measure of Men, Michael Adas explores the ways in which European perceptions of their scientific and technological superiority shaped their interactions with people overseas. Adopting a broad, comparative perspective, he analyzes European responses to the cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, India, and China, cultures that they judged to represent lower levels of material mastery and social organization. Beginning with the early decades of overseas expansion in the sixteenth century, Adas traces the impact of scientific and technological advances on European attitudes toward Asians and Africans and on their policies for dealing with colonized societies. He concentrates on British and French thinking in the nineteenth century, when, he maintains, scientific and technological measures of human worth played a critical role in shaping arguments for the notion of racial supremacy and the "civilizing mission" ideology which were used to justify Europe's domination of the globe. Finally, he examines the reasons why many Europeans grew dissatisfied with and even rejected this gauge of human worth after World War I, and explains why it has remained important to Americans. Showing how the scientific and industrial revolutions contributed to the development of European imperialist ideologies, Machines as the Measure of Men highlights the cultural factors that have nurtured disdain for non-Western accomplishments and value systems. It also indicates how these attitudes, in shaping policies that restricted the diffusion of scientific knowledge, have perpetuated themselves, and contributed significantly to chronic underdevelopment throughout the developing world. Adas's far-reaching and provocative book will be compelling reading for all who are concerned about the history of Western imperialism and its legacies. First published to wide acclaim in 1989, Machines as the Measure of Men is now available in a new edition that features a preface by the author that discusses how subsequent developments in gender and race studies, as well as global technology and politics, enter into conversation with his original arguments.