France renamed forced labor as obligatory public labor to signal progress

Evidence

Arrete “promulguant en AOF le decret du 21 aoiit, 1930,” Feb. 18, 1933, JOAOF, p. 258. In passing this decree the government stressed “obligatory public labor” rather than “forced labor” in references to French labor policies. The term “forced labor,” it was argued, evoked the horrors of the slave trade, whereas “obligatory public labor” underscored progress. It is important to note that although Paris passed this decree in 1930, it was not promulgated in West Africa until three years later. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 1407

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the deliberate euphemism ‘obligatory public labor’ vs ‘forced labor’ — a key term shift in French colonial discourse.
• XREF: Parallels the euphemizing of labor in other imperial contexts; also echoes the ‘name signaling trustworthiness’ theme in economic histories.