1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910814090003321

Autore

Lewis Mary Dewhurst

Titolo

Divided rule : sovereignty and empire in French Tunisia, 1881-1938 / / Mary Dewhurst Lewis

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley : , : University of California Press, , 2014

ISBN

0-520-95714-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (321 p.)

Disciplina

961.104

Soggetti

HISTORY / Africa / General

Tunisia History French occupation, 1881-1956

Tunisia Politics and government 1881-1956

France Colonies Africa, North History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Tunisia in the Imperial Mediterranean -- Ending extraterritoriality? -- The politics of protection -- Contested terrain : redefining sovereignty in twentieth-century Tunisia -- Over our dead bodies : burial rites and sovereignty in 1930s Tunisia -- Conclusion and epilogue : from co-sovereignty to independence.

Sommario/riassunto

After invading Tunisia in 1881, the French installed a protectorate in which they shared power with the Tunisian ruling dynasty and, due to the dynasty's treaties with other European powers, with some of their imperial rivals. This "indirect" form of colonization was intended to prevent the violent clashes marking France's outright annexation of neighboring Algeria. But as Mary Dewhurst Lewis shows in Divided Rule, France's method of governance in Tunisia actually created a whole new set of conflicts. In one of the most dynamic crossroads of the Mediterranean world, residents of Tunisia- whether Muslim, Jewish, or Christian-navigated through the competing power structures to further their civil rights and individual interests and often thwarted the aims of the French state in the process. Over time, these everyday challenges to colonial authority led France to institute reforms that slowly undermined Tunisian sovereignty and replaced it with a more heavy-handed form of rule-a move also intended to ward off France's



European rivals, who still sought influence in Tunisia. In so doing, the French inadvertently encouraged a powerful backlash with major historical consequences, as Tunisians developed one of the earliest and most successful nationalist movements in the French empire. Based on archival research in four countries, Lewis uncovers important links between international power politics and everyday matters of rights, identity, and resistance to colonial authority, while re-interpreting the whole arc of French rule in Tunisia from the 1880's to the mid-20th century. Scholars, students, and anyone interested in the history of politics and rights in North Africa, or in the nature of imperialism more generally, will gain a deeper understanding of these issues from this sophisticated study of colonial Tunisia.