Colonial suspects: suspicion, imperial rule, and colonial society in interwar French West Africa

A Vietnamese cook, a German journalist, and a Senegalese student - what did they have in common?

They were all suspicious persons kept under surveillance by French colonial authorities in West Africa in the 1920s and 1930s. 'Colonial Suspects' looks at the web of surveillance set up by the French government during the 20th century as France's empire slipped into crisis.

As French West Africa and the French Empire more generally underwent fundamental transformations during the interwar years, French colonial authorities pivoted from a stated policy of 'assimilation' to that of 'association.' Surveillance of both colonial subjects and visitors traveling through the colonies increased in scope.

The effect of this change in policy was profound: a 'culture of suspicion' became deeply ingrained in French West African society.