Dakar’s association doctrine merged French survival interests with the civilizing mission

Evidence

What exactly did Dakar mean by these terms? Its doctrine of association rested on two premises. The first was that some form of sharing power with the old and new elite in West Africa was necessary to preserve French authority. The second was that this power sharing, in the proper doses and surrounded by the proper safeguards, was also in the best interests of its subjects and thus consistent with France’s civilizing mission in West Africa. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 653

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lays out the two-pillar definition of Dakar’s association doctrine — power-sharing for French survival plus a reformulated civilizing rationale.