Not logged in.
Quick Search - Contribution
Contribution Details
| Type | Journal Article |
| Scope | Discipline-based scholarship |
| Title | Attaining autonomy in the Empire: French governors between 1860 and 1960 |
| Organization Unit | |
| Authors |
|
| Item Subtype | Original Work |
| Refereed | Yes |
| Status | Published in final form |
| Language |
|
| Journal Title | Social Science History |
| Publisher | Social Science History Association |
| Geographical Reach | international |
| ISSN | 0145-5532 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Number | 4 |
| Page Range | 831 - 859 |
| Date | 2022 |
| Abstract Text | This article presents a study of the careers of French colonial governors between 1830 and 1960. We consider empires as the by-product of social entities structuring themselves. Specifically, we analyze the process of the emergence of this professional group with respect to other professional groups within the imperial space and the French metropolitan space, building on the concept of linked ecologies. Using data on the career of 637 colonial governors between 1830 and 1960, we examine how variations in the recruitment of these senior civil servants actually reflect the professionalization of this group. We rely on an optimal matching technique to distinguish typical sequence models and identify nine common career trajectories that can be grouped into four main clusters. We further compare the share of each cluster in the population of governors over time and show that the rise of the colonial cluster during the Interwar period corresponded to the peak of the administrative autonomy in the colonial space. We argue that this process is consistent with the professionalization of the governors’ corps, which is embodied by a common career within the colonial administration and a collective identity as a group. |
| Related URLs | |
| Digital Object Identifier | 10.1017/ssh.2022.20 |
| Other Identification Number | merlin-id:23266 |
| PDF File |
Download from ZORA
|
| Export |
BibTeX
EP3 XML (ZORA)
|
| Keywords | State employment decisions, professional groups, closure, ecology, French colonial empire, 19th century, 20th century |