France’s 1925 labor code preserved forced labor while claiming to liberalize it.

Evidence

Like Carde’s circular on cotton cultivation, the labor code of 192 5 represented a new, but incomplete, clarification of the Government General’s position on the use of forced labor in West Africa. The code appeared to be an attempt to move toward a free-labor market, since it explicitly stipulated that the contracts were to be voluntary. But the code did not actually deny administrators the right to recruit wage laborers by force in the face of labor shortages, and many clauses in Carde’s decree seemed designed with forced labor in mind. This ambiguity suggested that the new legislation’s primary purpose was not to end compulsory wage labor but to rationalize labor recruiting for private employers and to improve working conditions for Africans on European farms and concessions. Once again, the Government General made clear that it considered such coercion compatible with France’s civilizing mission, as long as the workers were fairly paid and well treated. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 830

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Connects to the sacrifice/corvée theme — institutionalized coercion justified as paternal care parallels the ritualized submission dynamics discussed in that essay.