A Counter-History of French Colonization

In A Counter History of French Colonization, Franco-Moroccan author Driss Ghali surveys the modern history of French colonization in comparative perspective, from the capture of Algiers in July 1830 to the wave of decolonizations that followed the Second World War. The story Ghali tells is a tragic one: despite what were often the best of intentions, French colonial administration was generally a slapdash affair, ill-conceived, ill-executed, and largely indifferent to the well-being of native populations and the long-term interests of France alike. But it was not just the French who squandered the opportunities presented by their colonial adventure: once liberated from their colonial oppressors and with a few notable exceptions, France's former colonies signally failed to make good on the promise of independence, in many cases reverting to the violent, corrupt, and unjust ways that had characterized their societies prior to the arrival of France. As Ghali shows in the work's concluding section, these failures continue to reverberate to this day in the metropolitan heart of the former empire, where the memory of colonialism has contributed to driving a wedge between its immigrant-descended and native-stock populations. Should this conflicted memory not be overcome, a bleak future awaits France and, indeed, every Western society that has so blithely accepted that the crimes of colonialism be incorporated into its foundational narrative.