French colonial thinkers equated civilization with multiplying native desires for goods.

Evidence

“Trade,” Leroy-Beaulieu had argued in the r88o’s, “will not spread in this part of the world except in those areas where … [the Europeans] open routes of communication … and where, through the example of their own nationals and their own initiative, they teach the natives how to have more needs by working harder and trading more. It has been said with reason that the most characteristic sign of civilization is the multiplicity of needs.” — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 190

Categorization

• DEFINE: States the French colonial definition of civilization: the multiplication of needs through commerce and labor.
• SHARE: The ‘multiplicity of needs’ as the hallmark of civilization is a striking quote worth sharing with anyone studying the economic logic of empire.
• XREF: connects to: Colonial elites equated civilization with contract capacity and investor-friendly institutions. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 91