Napoleon turned Enlightenment philosophy of civilization into a concrete colonial program

Evidence

Napoleon transformed what was latent in Enlightenment discourse into a blueprint for cultural change. For him, the work of civilization included, in addition to encouraging trade, introducing the printing press, the French language, education, medicine, preventive hygiene, and the arts, as well as applying the principles of rational administration to fiscal, judicial, and land reform. With the help of the lnstitut, he proceeded on all these fronts during his short stay in Egypt. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 74

Categorization

• DEFINE: Shows concretely what the ‘mission to civilize’ was understood to include: not just trade but wholesale cultural transformation.
• XREF: connects to: Enlightenment’s conversion into positivism has been historically confirmed.; Napoleon’s 1798 invasion made scholarly knowledge central to colonial conquest — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 164