Relectures de Tocqueville

Benoit, Jean-Louis

doi:10.1522/24800028

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“…On the other side, scholars have noted the parallels between Tocqueville's colonial and analytical works, and between his liberalism and his endorsement of the French empire. Pointing out temporal and substantive continuities, these commentators argue that Tocqueville embraced the colonial project as a geopolitical necessity and/or a remedy for the dangerous tendencies inherent in democratic society (Alen 2014; Benoît 2001; Bohlender 2005; Boyd 2001; Capdevila 2012; Dion 1995; Duan 2010; Kohn 2008; Mélonio 1991; Todorov 1993). 2 Interpretive differences notwithstanding, one common feature of the growing literature on Tocqueville and colonization is the entrenched perception of Tocqueville as an “avid colonizer” and “militant imperialist” advocating conquest (Capdevila 2012, 219; Pitts 2000, 296).…”

Section: Tocqueville On Colonizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colonization and Democracy: Tocqueville Reconsidered

Atanassow

2017

Am Polit Sci Rev

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The prominence of colonization in Tocqueville's life and works has been widely noted, yet scholars disagree about its importance. The perceived tension between Tocqueville's analysis of democracy and his advocacy of colonization continues to be the subject of heated scholarly debate. Revisiting Tocqueville's analytical and practical engagement with colonization, this essay reexamines its relationship to Tocqueville's account of democracy. It argues that, while lending political support to the French empire, Tocqueville was a clairvoyant critic of colonial rule; and that his involvement with colonization could only be properly understood in light of the historical and civilizational vista that informs his oeuvre as a whole. Proposing that Tocqueville viewed European expansionism as an instrument of the global movement toward democratic equality, the essay concludes with an assessment of the significance of Tocqueville's colonial writings for his “new political science,” and their relevance today.

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