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Ivory Coast
Index
French colonial policy incorporated concepts of
assimilation
and association. Assimilation presupposed the inherent
superiority
of French culture over all others, so that in practice the
assimilation policy in the colonies meant extension of the
French
language, institutions, laws, and customs.
The policy of association also affirmed the superiority
of the
French in the colonies, but it entailed different
institutions and
systems of laws for the colonizer and the colonized. Under
this
policy, the Africans in Côte d'Ivoire were allowed to
preserve
their own customs insofar as they were compatible with
French
interests. An indigenous elite trained in French
administrative
practice formed an intermediary group between the French
and the
Africans.
Assimilation was practiced in Côte d'Ivoire to the
extent that
after 1930 a small number of Westernized Ivoirians were
granted the
right to apply for French citizenship. Most Ivoirians,
however,
were classified as French subjects and were governed under
the
principle of association.
Until 1958, governors appointed in Paris administered
the
colony of Côte d'Ivoire, using a system of direct,
centralized
administration that left little room for Ivoirian
participation in
policy making. The French colonial administration also
adopted
divide-and-rule policies, applying ideas of assimilation
only to
the educated elite. The French were also interested in
ensuring
that the small but influential elite was sufficiently
satisfied
with the status quo to refrain from any anti-French
sentiment. In
fact, although they were strongly opposed to the practices
of
association, educated Ivoirians believed that they would
achieve
equality with their French peers through assimilation
rather than
through complete independence from France, a change that
would
eliminate the enormous economic advantages of remaining a
French
possession. But after the assimilation doctrine was
implemented
entirely, at least in principle, through the postwar
reforms,
Ivoirian leaders realized that even assimilation implied
the
superiority of the French over the Ivoirians and that
discrimination and inequality would end only with
independence.
Data as of November 1988
Evolution of Colonial Policy
French colonial policy incorporated concepts of
assimilation
and association. Assimilation presupposed the inherent
superiority
of French culture over all others, so that in practice the
assimilation policy in the colonies meant extension of the
French
language, institutions, laws, and customs.
The policy of association also affirmed the superiority
of the
French in the colonies, but it entailed different
institutions and
systems of laws for the colonizer and the colonized. Under
this
policy, the Africans in Côte d'Ivoire were allowed to
preserve
their own customs insofar as they were compatible with
French
interests. An indigenous elite trained in French
administrative
practice formed an intermediary group between the French
and the
Africans.
Assimilation was practiced in Côte d'Ivoire to the
extent that
after 1930 a small number of Westernized Ivoirians were
granted the
right to apply for French citizenship. Most Ivoirians,
however,
were classified as French subjects and were governed under
the
principle of association.
Until 1958, governors appointed in Paris administered
the
colony of Côte d'Ivoire, using a system of direct,
centralized
administration that left little room for Ivoirian
participation in
policy making. The French colonial administration also
adopted
divide-and-rule policies, applying ideas of assimilation
only to
the educated elite. The French were also interested in
ensuring
that the small but influential elite was sufficiently
satisfied
with the status quo to refrain from any anti-French
sentiment. In
fact, although they were strongly opposed to the practices
of
association, educated Ivoirians believed that they would
achieve
equality with their French peers through assimilation
rather than
through complete independence from France, a change that
would
eliminate the enormous economic advantages of remaining a
French
possession. But after the assimilation doctrine was
implemented
entirely, at least in principle, through the postwar
reforms,
Ivoirian leaders realized that even assimilation implied
the
superiority of the French over the Ivoirians and that
discrimination and inequality would end only with
independence.
Data as of November 1988
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