Colonial Suspects: Suspicion, Imperial Rule, and Colonial Society in Interwar French West Africa
- ISBN-10
- 1496206185
- ISBN-13
- 9781496206183
- Category
- Political Science
- Pages
- 270
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2018-04-01
- Publisher
- U of Nebraska Press
- Author
- Kathleen Keller
Description
A Vietnamese cook, a German journalist, and a Senegalese student--what did they have in common? They were all suspicious persons kept under surveillance by French colonial authorities in West Africa in the 1920s and 1930s. Colonial Suspects looks at the web of surveillance set up by the French government during the twentieth century as France's empire slipped into crisis. As French West Africa and the French Empire more generally underwent fundamental transformations during the interwar years, French colonial authorities pivoted from a stated policy of "assimilation" to that of "association." Surveillance of both colonial subjects and visitors traveling through the colonies increased in scope. The effect of this change in policy was profound: a "culture of suspicion" became deeply ingrained in French West African society. Kathleen Keller notes that the surveillance techniques developed over time by the French included "shadowing, postal control, port police, informants, denunciations, home searches, and gossip." This ad hoc approach to colonial surveillance mostly proved ineffectual, however, and French colonies became transitory spaces where a global cast of characters intermixed and French power remained precarious. Increasingly, French officials--in the colonies and at home--reacted in short-sighted ways as both perceived and real backlash occurred with respect to communism, pan-Africanism, anticolonialism, black radicalism, and pan-Islamism. Focusing primarily on the port city of Dakar (Senegal), Keller unravels the threads of intrigue, rumor, and misdirection that informed this chaotic period of French colonial history.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2018-04
- 270 pages
- Ebook
- U of Nebraska Press
Similar books
-
Colonial Suspects: Suspicious Persons and Police Surveillance in French West Africa, 1914-1945
By Kathleen A. KellerAdditionally, the dissertation studies the "suspects" themselves to understand different colonial milieux, including foreign, French, and African individuals and groups who engaged in political, religious, or economic activity that was...
-
Suspect Relations: Sex, Race, and Resistance in Colonial North Carolina
By Kirsten FischerKirsten Fischer has mined unpublished court records and travel literature from colonial North Carolina to reveal how early notions of racial difference were shaped by illicit sexual relationships and the sanctions imposed on those who ...
-
Defying Empire: Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York
By Thomas M. TruxesThis enthralling book is the first to uncover the story of New York City merchants who engaged in forbidden trade with the enemy before and during the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War).
-
City of Suspects: Crime in Mexico City, 1900–1931
By Pablo PiccatoDIVAn analysis of the complex moral interpretations crime was given by Mexico's urban poor and of the evolving institutional responses to crime and punishment in modern Mexico./div ""City of Suspects" offers a perceptive and original ...
-
Colonial Virginia: A History
By John E. Selby, Warren M. Billings, Thad W. TateThis book looks at the the colony of Virginia and the underlying tensions and insecurities that characterized it from the beginning. This includes a work force dominated by bound laborers;...
-
Journal of West African History 8, No. 2
By Nwando AchebeIn This Issue Editor's Introduction A West African Spider-Man and the Enduring Concept of "the Stranger" Mark W. Deets Articles Colonial Labor Policy and North-South Migration in Ghana Mariama Marciana Kuusaana Beyond Resistance: ...
-
The History of French Colonial Policy, 1870-1925
By Stephen H. RobertsPublished in 1963: The author gives a clear and accurate account of the immense development of France as a colonial power which, in an incredibly short space of time, was to control one third of Africa.
-
The Maryland Colony
By Mandy R. MarxProvides an introduction to the history, government, economy, resources, and people of the Maryland Colony. Includes maps, charts, and a timeline.
-
Hostages of Empire: Colonial Prisoners of War in Vichy France
By Sarah Ann FrankHostages of Empire is a social, cultural, and political history of the colonial prisoners of war.
-
When Valleys Turned Blood Red: The Ta-pa-ni Incident in Colonial Taiwan
By Paul R. KatzWhen Valleys Turned Blood Red tells the story of colonial policies and their tragic impact on local communities.