Colonial Engagement of France, Portugal, and Spain: A Comparative Study

    For the purposes of this discussion, we will focus on the dissimilarities in the colonial engagements of France and Portugal with respects to their African territorial holdings. 

Mural at Colonial Exposition of 1931 in Paris; illustrates synthesis of modernity and tradition

    The French colonial strategy, according to Gwendolyn Wright, during the early nineteenth century was characterized by policies of “assimilation” – that is policies that promote the cultural integration and absorption of African colonies into French societal ideologies. This disposition was executed using a dual approach where French cultural supremacy in language, law, and the arts (especially in architectural terms) was emphasized through policy implementation. Moreover, the French military was employed to reinforce the authoritative power and competence of the imperial nation through the destruction of indigenous communities and their continued, public presence within the colony. This strategy, however, underwent immense criticism, especially towards the end of the nineteenth century. The opposition to colonial assimilation was partly due to ethical debates concerning the immorality of such treatments; more pragmatically however it was grounded in the expansive political and economic inefficiencies present within the French colonial dominion that resulted in France operating at a net loss with respects to its holdings. 

First (light blue) and second (dark blue) French colonial empire

    This in turn prompted a new colonial strategy typified by “association” rather than complete “assimilation”, a theory advocated by social scientists and urbanists that emphasized cultural sensibility with regards to the indigenous practices. This new attitude reflected the need of the French government to make colonialism more palatable to their citizens by manufacturing a more bearable colonialism through the use of urban planning and in conjunction with new budgetary requirements put in place in 1900 that required French colonies to become economically self-sufficient. Association underscored the preservation of local cultures through the maintenance of tribal councils and historic monuments. Advocates believed that this more accepting demeanor coupled with social service initiatives – such as the construction and implementation of schools and hospitals – was a much more efficient tactic at suppressing resistance.  

       

Portuguese colonial empire

    Portugal’s colonial strategy, however, was static when compared to the more dynamic French strategy. Similar to France, Portugal employed methods of assimilation that called for “One Portugal” and the relied on the exploitation of African labor. Their strategy was built on the premise of eliminating ethnic, linguistic, geographic, economic, and concrete social differences in order to counter potential resistance; it follows the basic principle that if the colonies were cultural extensions of Portugal, they would have no reason to challenge their dominion. Simultaneously, this attitude was strongly based in the ideal that a completely homogenous society that resembles the colonial host is much easier to manage and satisfy than a heterogenous society that has multiple ethnic group, each with their own set of beliefs.  Unlike the French, however, according to Peter Fry in “Cultures of difference. The aftermath of Portuguese and British colonial policies in southern Africa”, Portugal’s disposition concerning their colonial engagement did not shift to a more culturally tolerant stance once faced with financial hardships. As they had less capital than France, the Portuguese were essentially incapable of cultivating a fully formed and developed colonial economy that would stimulate African employment through the invisible hand of the internal market. Instead, they chose to institutionalize forced labor within their presiding African colonies in order to harvest crops for exportation to the metropolis. 

Large Afro-Cuban Santeria altar in the house of santero in Matanzas, Cuba, 1930

    In terms of my final project on the altars of the diasporic religion Santeria within Cuba, Spain’s, the presiding imperial, policies concerning their colonial engagement were vital forces in the syncretism of Catholicism and Yoruba spiritualism. Spain, much like Portugal and France, emphasized assimilation; however, their brand of assimilation was primarily religious in character. In this case, Spanish cultural hegemony was the process by which Catholicism was called into the service of the state, whereby the Catholic Church tried to envelop and infiltrate all areas of societal life in a web of connections permeated with both blatant and subtle exhibitions of power. Their efforts, however, largely backfired as the priests underestimated the tenacity of African belief systems within the black population, creating protected spaces where Santeria could flourish. 

 

Sources:

 

Fry, Peter. 2000. “Cultures of Difference. The Aftermath of Portuguese and British Colonial Policies in Southern Africa.” Social Anthropology 8 (2): 117–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0964028200000124.

Gwendolyn Wright “Tradition in the Service of Modernity: Architecture and Urbanism in French Colonial Policy, 1900-1930.” The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Jun., 1987), pp. 291-316

 

Brandon, George. 1993. Santeria from Africa to the New World : the Dead Sell Memories. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.