France’s Algerian commission prioritized domination and resource extraction over promoting science
Evidence
Yet the decision to organize a commission to study conditions in Algeria and the impulse to spread the benefits of science were not representative of all subsequent French actions in Algeria. From the beginning, there were hints that Algeria’s new rulers would be even more pragmatic in their approach to colonization than Napoleon. Although its ultimate publications were impressive-running to thirty-nine volumes-the commission sent to Algeria in 1837 was only a partial reincarnation of the Institut. Whereas the Institut had had r s r members, the Algerian version had only 2 s, and r 4 of them were military personnel. This military preponderance was an early sign of France’s preeminent interest in Algeria. Notwithstanding the reference to promoting science, the commission’s principal mandate appears to have been to learn about Algeria in order better to dominate and extract its resources. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 79
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
Related
- French colonial science in Algeria chiefly served domination and resource extraction. (similarity 0.95)
- France assumed Muslim fanaticism stemmed from ignorance and so built schools and hospitals (similarity 0.83)
- Algerian resistance and biological racism pushed France toward a technology-based civilizing mission (similarity 0.83)
- Algerian resistance and tropical disease reframed French civilization as technological mastery. (similarity 0.79)
- Colonial planning suffered from European ignorance masked by scientific pride (similarity 0.79)