Francophone Africa at fifty [Paperback]

France's presence on the African continent has often been presented as 'cooperation' and part of French cultural policy by policy-makers in Paris and quite as often been denounced as 'the longest scandal of the republic' by French academics and African intellectuals. Between the last years of French colonialism and France's sustained interventions in former African colonies such as Chad or C?te d'Ivoire during the 2000s, the legacy of French colonialism has shaped the historical trajectory of more than a dozen countries and societies in Africa. The complexities of this story are now, for the first time, addressed in a comprehensive series of essays, based on new research by a group of specialists in French colonial history. The book addresses the needs of both academic specialists and those of students of history and neighbouring disciplines looking for structural analysis of key themes in France's and Africa's shared history.
Introduction - Tony Chafer and Alexander Keese

Part I: Zero hour approaches

1. Gaston Defferre's Loi-Cadre and its application, 1956-S57: last chance for a French African 'empire-state' or blueprint for decolonisation? - Martin Shipway

2. A Vocation for Independence: Guinean Nationalism in the 1950s - Mairi MacDonald

3. French officials and the insecurities of change in sub-Saharan Africa: Dakar, 19 August 1960 re-visited - Alexander Keese

Part II: Military transitions

4. 'Saving French West Africa': The French army, African soldiers and military propaganda during the 1950s - Ruth Ginio

5. The French Army and Malian Independence (1956-1961) - Vincent Joly

6. Transfer of Military Power in Mauritania: From Ecouvillon to Lamentin (1956-1978) - Camille Evrard

Part III: Continuities and Connections

7. Franco-African Security Relations at Fifty: Writing Violence, Security, and the Geopolitical Imaginary - Bruno Charbonneau

8. French coop?ration in the field of educationlÃ2