Table Of ContentCambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series
General Editors:Megan Vaughan, Kings’ College, Cambridge, andRichard
Drayton, King’s College London
This informative series covers the broad span of modern imperial history while
also exploring the recent developments in former colonial states where resi-
dues of empire can still be found. The books provide in-depth examinations of
empires as competing and complementary power structures encouraging the
reader to reconsider their understanding of international and world history
during recent centuries.
Titles include:
Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo
THE “CIVILISING MISSION” OF PORTUGUESE COLONIALISM, 1870–1930
Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo and António Costa Pinto
THE ENDS OF EUROPEAN COLONIAL EMPIRES
Cases and Comparisons
Ulbe Bosma and Anthony Webster
COMMODITIES, PORTS AND ASIAN MARITIME TRADE SINCE 1750
Sung-Eun Choi
DECOLONIZATION AND THE FRENCH OF ALGERIA
Bringing the Settler Colony Home
T. J. Cribb (editorr)
IMAGINED COMMONWEALTH
Cambridge Essays on Commonwealth and International Literature in English
Richard Dunn and Rebekah Higgitt (editors)
NAVIGATIONAL ENTERPRISES IN EUROPE AND ITS EMPIRES, 1730–1850
Bronwen Everill
ABOLITION AND EMPIRE IN SIERRA LEONE AND LIBERIA
Anna Greenwood and Harshad Topiwala
INDIAN DOCTORS IN KENYA, 1890–1940
Sandip Hazareesingh and Harro Maat
LOCAL SUBVERSIONS OF COLONIAL CULTURES
Commodities and Anti-Commodities in Global History
Róisín Healy & Enrico Dal Lago (editors)
THE SHADOW OF COLONIALISM IN EUROPE’S MODERN PAST
Leslie James
GEORGE PADMORE AND DECOLONIZATION FROM BELOW
Pan-Africanism, the Cold War, and the End of Empire
Robin Jeffrey
POLITICS, WOMEN AND WELL-BEING
How Kerala became a ‘Model’
Gerold Krozewski
MONEY AND THE END OF EMPIRE
British International Economic Policy and the Colonies, 1947–58
Zoë Laidlaw and Alan Lester (editors)
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND SETTLER COLONIALISM
Land Holding, Loss and Survival in an Interconnected World
Srirupa Prasad
CULTURAL POLITICS OF HYGIENE IN INDIA, 1890–1940
Contagions of Feeling
Sophus Reinert, Pernille Røge
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF EMPIRE IN THE EARLY MODERN WORLD
Jonathan Saha
LAW, DISORDER AND THE COLONIAL STATE
Corruption in Burma c.1900
John Singleton and Paul Robertson
ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN BRITAIN AND AUSTRALASIA 1945–1970
Leonard Smith
INSANITY, RACE AND COLONIALISM
Managing Mental Disorder in the Post-Emancipation British Caribbean,
1838–1914
Alex Sutton
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF IMPERIAL RELATIONS
Britain, the Sterling Area, and Malaya 1945–1960
Miguel Suárez Bosa
ATLANTIC PORTS AND THE FIRST GLOBALISATION C. 1850–1930
Jerome Teelucksingh
LABOUR AND THE DECOLONIZATION STRUGGLE IN TRINIDAD AND
TOBAGO
Julia Tischler
LIGHT AND POWER FOR A MULTIRACIAL NATION
The Kariba Dam Scheme in the Central African Federation
Erica Wald
VICE IN THE BARRACKS
Medicine, the Military and the Making of Colonial India, 1780–1868
Anna Winterbottom
HYBRID KNOWLEDGE IN THE EARLY EAST INDIA COMPANY WORLD
Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series
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Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Decolonization and the
French of Algeria
Bringing the Settler Colony Home
Sung-Eun Choi
Assistant Professor, Bentley University, USA
© Sung-Eun Choi 2016
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-52074-6
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2016 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-55803-2 ISBN 978-1-137-52075-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-52075-3
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Choi, Sung-Eun.
Title: Decolonization and the French of Algeria : bringing the settler colony
home / Sung-Eun Choi (assistant professor, Bentley University, USA).
Description: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan,
2015. | Series: Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series | Includes
bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015023936 | ISBN 9781137520746 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Decolonization – Algeria – History – 20th century. |
Decolonization – France – History – 20th century. | Algeria – Colonization
– History – 20th century. | French – Algeria – History – 20th century. |
Repatriation – France – History – 20th century. | Colonists – France – History
– 20th century. | National characteristics, French – History – 20th century.
| France – Ethnic relations – History – 20th century. | France – Relations –
Algeria. | Algeria – Relations – France. | BISAC: HISTORY / Africa / North. |
HISTORY / Europe / France. | HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century. | POLITICAL
SCIENCE / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism.
Classification: LCC DT295 .C455 2015 | DDC 965/.0461—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015023936
This book is dedicated to my sister, and to my grandparents
who lived their own colonial and postcolonial histories
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Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
1 French Settler Colonialism in Algeria 13
2 The Algerian War in the Settler Colony 33
3 Repatriation: Bringing the Settler Colony “Home” 52
4 Gaullists and the Repatriate Challenge 76
5 Repatriation after de Gaulle: Pompidou and Giscard 96
6 A Socialist Politics of Repatriation 113
7 Repatriates Narrate the Colonial Past 128
Epilogue 1 48
Notes 1 55
Bibliographyy 191
Index 2 15
vii
Acknowledgments
While all its shortcomings are solely the responsibility of the author,
this book involved the immeasurable energies and support of friends
and colleagues whose names cannot all be mentioned here. The
project was a difficult undertaking, not only because of the many
twists and turns, but also because of the challenges of dealing with
living subjects whose history remains so highly controversial. To study
history is to engage one’s passion; but to engage the lives of others
is to learn the value of humility essential to becoming a professional
historian. This book is far from having achieved this goal, but the
goal was always in mind.
This Acknowledgment recognizes all the numerous messieurs and
dames who entrusted their stories to the a méricaine d’origine coréene.
Special thanks to the Rondeaus, the Fenechs, the Farinaccis, and the
legion of those who helped me in Paris and in Aix, and Madame
Besnaci-Lancou. Whatever their stories, without their help, this book
would never have seen the light of day.
I thank those who helped me pursue this project and remained
invested in its publication. These are the staff at the CAC, CADN,
Quai D’Orsay diplomatic archives, CAOM, and the departmental
archives of the Boûches-du-Rhône and the Gard. I was fortunate to
have uninhibited access to the UCLA and SRLF libraries, the collec-
tions of which proved as astonishing as the agility with which the
staff worked to retrieve them. A most special thank you to Perry
Anderson for accommodating all the bonne foi behind this project,
and for his patience and kindness. All my teachers at UCLA receive
heartfelt recognition. A special thank you to David Myers, Peter
Baldwin, and Russell Jacoby for their scholarship, critique, and warm
support, and for going beyond the call of duty. Words are insuffi-
cient to thank Gabi Piterberg, Gershon Shafir, and the Sarfatti family.
Michael Salman and Caroline Ford invested more time than they
should have in the project. Thank you also to CK Lee who gave much
encouragement. At the IEA-Nantes, I thank Alain Supiot, Samuel
Jubé, and the IEA fellows of 2010–2011 who read and commented
viii
Acknowledgments ix
on parts of this work. At WSU I have many to thank, especially Jesse
Spohnholz for his friendship/mentorship, Emily Anderson, Lawrence
Hatter, and Clif Stratton for their camaraderie, and all my colleagues
in Pullman, WA. I must warmly acknowledge Pat Mainella, Noriko
Kawamura, and Roger Chan for their support and encouragement.
Thanks also to Ray Sun. Special thanks go to Jennifer Sessions, Amelia
Lyons, Todd Shepard, Ethan Katz, Yann Scioldo-Zürcher, Jeannette
Miller, Gillian Glaes, Steve Kale, Gary Wilder, Sam Kalman, Aaron
Hill, Dana Simmons, Emmanuel Saadia and so many others whose
tremendous help and encouragement were as much a testament to
their warmth and integrity as it was to their intellect. Special thanks
go to colleagues in the History Departments at Pomona College and
Claremont Graduate School.
I am greatly and forever indebted to my colleagues at Bentley
University: Marc Stern, our chair, who provided much departmental
support beyond what I thought possible, and added his signature
brand of hearty encouragement. Bridie Andrews and Cyrus Veeser
gave their brains, time, and generous feedback to help straighten out
my thoughts to give me the push I very much needed. I feel incred-
ibly lucky to have the support of everyone in my department. I am
especially thankful to my students of HI 200 at Bentley who tolerated
a very tired professor in the months leading up to the completion of
the book. Thanks go to the staff at the Bentley University Library and
to Cheryl Weiser and her team: Paviel Guerrero, Alanah Jones, and
Ethan Harmon, for the indispensable help they provided throughout
the year. I am indebted to the Valente Center for the Humanities
whose grant helped support the writing, and to my colleagues at the
NEH Valente seminar for their critiques and support. Special thanks
go to the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Bentley, Dan Everett, whose
generous funds helped support the completion of the book. I would
also like to thank the editors at Palgrave Macmillan who have shown
more patience than I deserved.
I thank the numerous comrades at UCLA: Naomi Taback, Jake
Collins, Alex Zevin, Claudia Verhoeven, Kelly Maynard, Chaohua
Wang, Todd Henry, and so many others who have equally contrib-
uted to my well-being but who cannot all be named here. The
support of Kara Murphy, Steve Sawyer, and Cécile Roudeau was
inexhaustible at a time when I had so little to give in return. In
