Colonizing, Settling and the Origins of Academic Geography

Geographical knowledge, Empire, and the Indigenous Other: Engaging a decolonising introspection into Early French colonial geography

“…The privileged scale of analysis has been that of the influence of the environment over non-European humanities. As in other Imperial contexts (Clayton, 2016), French colonial geographers focused their attention on environmental determinism as a way of explaining the social organisation and lifestyles of Indigenous peoples (Deprest, 2014;Pelletier, 2018). The issue of a negotiation between environment and society by other humanities always resulted in the affirmation of a heavy dependence on natural conditions, which, in turn, was used to classify Indigenous peoples according to their varying ability to overcome the constraints of their environment (Clayton, 2006(Clayton, , 2016.…”

“…Recently, geographers Federico Ferretti and Philippe Pelletier have contested the presumed support of the colonial movement by Reclus that Soubeyran asserted about 20 years ago (Ferretti & Pelletier, 2013;Pelletier, 2018;Soubeyran, 1997). By comparing Reclus' writings to those of Dubois' disciple, Augustin Bernard (1865-1947, Ferretti and Pelletier showed that Reclus had challenged the hierarchical vision of human "races," as opposed to Bernard. While recognising that French geography was certainly more diverse than is usually admitted, particularly concerning its supposed, desired, or rejected links to the colonial project (Clayton, 2016;Deprest, 2014), I consider it legitimate to prioritise the examination of the role of early colonial geography in the positivist invention of the Indigenous Other. The plurality of voices in French geography may have obscured the influence of Dubois and his disciples, including Augustin Bernard, Pierre Lorin, Henri Schirmer, and Georges Hardy, among others.…”

“…In my view, the categorisation of colonial geography encapsulates four possible understandings. It can be seen as a "teaching" category that designates an academic way of informing students about overseas colonies; a "heuristic" category defining geographical knowledge as the science of settling, exploiting, and colonising; an "empirical" category including all geographies and cartographies produced by anonymous geographers in the European empires (Blais et al, 2011b;Clayton, 2016;Livingstone, 1992); and, lastly, a "committed" category locating geography as a co-constructor of the colonial project alongside Imperial powers.…”

“…Two years later, the first Chair of Colonial Geography was created for him at Sorbonne University. Echoing British geographer Halford J. Mackinder (1861-1947), Dubois argued that, following the age of exploration, the time had come for a new era in geography (Clayton, 2016). He regarded geography as an applied science intended to develop the colonies (Clerc, 2014;D'Alessandro, 2003;Deprest, 2017).…”

“…While Dubois appears to have been marginalised by the "Vidalians" (D'Alessandro, 2003;Soubeyran, 1997), his influence should not be dismissed. Through his connections to political power and lobbying organisations that promoted colonisation, such as the Union Coloniale (founded in 1893), he managed to found several Chairs of Colonial Geography in France (20 such chairs existed in France by 1914; Clayton, 2016). His activism was not limited to geography, however.…”