Colonialism Devours Itself

Description

France is the only country that never decolonised its colonies, emotionally, financially or strategically. In the aftermath of losing the Second World War, notwithstanding de Gaulle’s attempts to convince his people otherwise, the French knew the game was up. (The Resistance fighters were heroes; but heroes are lonely.) For France, after 1945, the Second World War blended into the early Cold War, which Paris jumped into the day before it began. It fought in Indochina, and lost again. The independence war dragged on in Algeria. Then France lost there, too—painfully, with millions of its ordinary citizens expelled to a homeland that many of them hardly knew. 

But Sub-Saharan Africa was still there. France produced a postcolonial antidote: Françafrique, France’s sphere of influence (or ‘backyard’) over its former West and Central African colonies. France loved Africa. Some Frenchmen died for Françafrique; others made millions from it.

 The entire toxic edifice is now crumbling away. Young Africans are happy about this—but not so many of their parents, who often live in France. In his inimitable style, Gérard Prunier recounts a tragic transcultural saga, with one leg in the past and one in the future: the end of Françafrique.

Reviews

‘An indispensable critical analysis of la Françafrique. It makes for pleasant and entertaining reading, at times witty and even ironic. An essential contribution to our understanding of the strange, almost incestuous relationship between a former Metropole and its erstwhile colonies.’ — Filip Reyntjens, Emeritus Professor of Law and Politics, University of Antwerp, and author of Modern Rwanda: A Political History

‘One of the most poorly understood phenomena of modern statecraft is the system known as Françafrique whereby successive French governments maintained an active role in the affairs of former African colonies after independence, occasionally for good, but usually not so much. What is most remarkable about its recent dénouement amidst the expulsion of French diplomats and military forces from a succession of West African states is that the edifice endured for as long as it did. With his customary combination of verve and polemic, Gérard Prunier lifts the veil on eight decades of geopolitical myth and reality. Even those disagreeing with his conclusions will find the bracing arguments thought-provoking.’ — J. Peter Pham, Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council, Former US Special Envoy for the Great Lakes and Sahel Regions of Africa

‘A masterful critique of French colonial and foreign policy in Africa: an expansive tale of imperial overreach and arrogance that spans countries and decades with unique confidence and wit. Prunier’s historical narrative weaves together high (and low) politics, skullduggery, and eyewitness anecdotes into a kaleidoscopic exposé of France’s reluctant decolonisation of the continent, by turns sobering, farcical, and tragic – but always hopeful.’ — Matt Bryden, Co-founder and Strategic Adviser, Sahan Research, and former Horn of Africa Director for the International Crisis Group

Author(s)

Gérard Prunier is a renowned historian of contemporary Africa, and author of, inter alia, the acclaimed The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide and the forthcoming Colonialism Devours Itself: The Waning of Françafrique, both published by Hurst.