Tocqueville on Democracy after Abolition

Welch, Cheryl B.

doi:10.3138/ttr.27.2.227

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“…The state could and should impose itself as an arbiter on the African and the European populations in the Islands, and in so doing it could prevent the colonists from continuing their racist practices in the aftermaths of slavery. Radical legal changes could be imposed from the outside and then the state could invest in efforts to align the mores of the black and white populations with the new social relations (see also Welch, 2006: 241). We must add that the future for these societies was not conceived as them becoming independent, self-governing nations, but rather to remain occupied lands to be exploited by France.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But at the same time opportunities to partake in the culture of the society in which they were forced to live and work were also systematically frustrated (Cf. Welch, 2006: 236). This experience of living in a cultural no-man’s land had, over several generations, shaped the mores of the African populations:The Negro tries repeatedly to enter a society that wants no part of him.…”

Section: How Slavery and Racism Undermined Democracy In The United St...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like his liberal and aristocratic contemporaries, Tocqueville considered the racism that helped legitimize slavery an affront to Christian morality (Gershman, 1976: 470). However, far more than many of his contemporaries Tocqueville reflected on the long-lasting consequences and on the ways racist prejudices and predispositions would outlive the formal abolition of slavery (Welch, 2006).…”

Section: Tocqueville On Racism and Slavery4mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…My goal is different, however, because I compare Tocqueville’s writings on slavery in America and in the Caribbean in view of understanding his ideas about social transformations. More recently, Cheryl Welch (2006 and 2007) developed a perceptive comparison of the discussion of slavery in Democracy in America and the 1839 Report on Abolition . However, in my view, Welch insufficiently acknowledges Tocqueville’s conceptualization of the abolition of slavery as a revolutionary change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A post-colonial reading of Alexis de Tocqueville’s writings on slavery and its aftermaths

Maussen

2023

Ethnicities

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This article develops a postcolonial and comparative reading of Tocqueville’s writings on slavery. It argues, first, that Tocqueville analyzed the ending of slavery as a revolutionary social transformation involving changes in laws, social relations and mores, and second, that he employed the same analytical framework consistently to discuss processes of abolition in the United States and in the French Caribbean Islands. In the United States the process of abolition of slavery was deepening rather than ending racist prejudices, racial segregation and hatred between the black and the white populations. This would, so Tocqueville predicted, undermine democracy in America. In the plantation colonies he believed the French could draw lessons from the English experiences when organizing the abolition process. Only when legal changes and changes in mores developed in tandem there could be economic and political stability in the aftermath of slavery. This would allow the French to end slavery peacefully, which he deemed necessary if they intended to continue exploiting the colonies. The article argues that Tocqueville demonstrated a deep and critical understanding of the reprehensible, long-lasting role of anti-black racism and slavery in barring the emergence of democratic cultures based on equal standing and integration across racial difference. Yet, he combined this critical perspective on racist slavery with an accepted defense of European supremacy and with a sense of pessimism about the possibilities for Africans to ever become capable of self-government.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: How Slavery and Racism Undermined Democracy In The United St...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tocqueville On Racism and Slavery4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A post-colonial reading of Alexis de Tocqueville’s writings on slavery and its aftermaths

Maussen

2023

Ethnicities

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The End of Slavery in Anglo-America

Drescher¹

2009

Abolition

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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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Tocqueville on Democracy after Abolition

Abstract: In his legislative career, Alexis de Tocqueville felt most comfortable in the role of parliamentary expert who rose above party, who kept his eyes on the distant prize of democratic liberty even as he navigated the practical obstacles to social reform.

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

A post-colonial reading of Alexis de Tocqueville’s writings on slavery and its aftermaths

A post-colonial reading of Alexis de Tocqueville’s writings on slavery and its aftermaths

The End of Slavery in Anglo-America

Colonization and Democracy: Tocqueville Reconsidered

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