Colonial officials framed economic exploitation as a form of civilizing mission

Evidence

An analysis of how the word “civilization” was used by the Government General reveals, moreover, that it encompassed a variety of themes, many of which had nothing to do with the economic vocation of the newly reorganized Government General. One theme nevertheless coincided with the material interests of the federation from the outset. This was a belief that the mise en valeur of African resources was itself part of France’s civilizing mission in West Africa, and that railroads and improved sanitation were as essential to African progress as they were to French prosperity. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 174

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader question of how republican ideology was exported to West Africa and used to legitimize specific policies. — connects to: Critics frame both market reform and human rights as neo-colonial civilising missions. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 73