Mise en valeur meant state-led scientific development centered on railroads

Evidence

By the end of the nineteeth century, then, mise en valeur connoted a program of rational, scientific, and progressive colonial development, in which the state would play a central role. What exactly this meant in practice can be seen in the actions of Governor General Roume. For him, inaugurating a program of mise en valeur required first the construction of modern communications, which all colonial propagandists supported. Roume also adapted to West Africa a host of other European technological innovations, including specialized agricultural research, scientific laboratories, and modern sanitation and health facilities; but railroads would always receive the lion’s portion of available funds. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 150

Categorization

• DEFINE: Provides the working definition of mise en valeur, the organizing concept of the republicans’ colonial program central to the reader’s subject.
• XREF: Railroads as the spine of colonial extraction parallels the tree-as-infrastructure essay (ADDENDUM candidate): infrastructure imposing order on a territory is a recurring theme.