‘The Transformation of Man’ in French Algeria: Economic Planning and the Postwar Social Sciences, 1958–62

Abstract

This article demonstrates how the evolution of US social sciences during the Cold War influenced French attempts to develop Algeria economically and socially. During a violent war of decolonization, French researchers drew from social psychology to inform development policies. Studying political trends through the lens of cultural and psychological factors transformed older understandings of social classification. Rather than being conceived in primarily biological terms, racial difference was increasingly defined in relationship to economic capacities. The Constantine Plan, introduced in 1958, exemplified the intimate link between social planning and the postwar social sciences. The article then studies attempts to develop the Sahara, where planners sought to determine which races would be able to work in the harsh conditions of the desert. Arguing that social planning in Algeria was not merely a 'colonial' phenomena, this article shows how development reflected the broader shifts in thinking about the economy and social organization that marked the 1950s and 1960s. Keywords Algeria, decolonization, development, France, race, social sciencesThe Algerian war began with a series of coordinated attacks by the National Liberation Front (FLN) on 1 November 1954. The war exhausted France institutionally, morally, and financially, as forms of violence ranging from counterinsurgency operations, internment camps, and torture came under public scrutiny in the metropole. While scholars have paid a good deal of attention to the physical

Human Resource Development: Why It Matters in the National Context of Afghanistan

“…French development experts did not discount the importance of technical and financial means in breaking the cycle of underdevelopment in Algeria (Davis, 2017). According to Davis (2017), the Constantine Plan predicated on the notion that above all what really makes development irreversible was the transformation of man.…”

“…French development experts did not discount the importance of technical and financial means in breaking the cycle of underdevelopment in Algeria (Davis, 2017). According to Davis (2017), the Constantine Plan predicated on the notion that above all what really makes development irreversible was the transformation of man. French planners deemed it necessary to identify and measure factors driving public opinion, study military behaviour during combat and forces against and for modernity in Algeria (Davis, 2017).…”

“…According to Davis (2017), the Constantine Plan predicated on the notion that above all what really makes development irreversible was the transformation of man. French planners deemed it necessary to identify and measure factors driving public opinion, study military behaviour during combat and forces against and for modernity in Algeria (Davis, 2017). As a result, Algeria ranks 85th out of 189 countries in the human development index (UNDP, 2018b).…”

“…To take this a step further, consider the Constantine Plan also known as Plan de Constantine. The primary objective of the Constantine Plan devised in 1958 was to develop and modernize Algeria (Davis, 2017).…”

“…As a result, Algeria ranks 85th out of 189 countries in the human development index (UNDP, 2018b). Despite its controversial nature, the Constantine Plan relied on a multidisciplinary approach of employing social science methods and models for quantifying, describing and shaping human behaviour (Davis, 2017). HRD's multidisciplinary nature applied in the national context of Afghanistan has the potential to improve national expertise, enhance combat capabilities, increase democratic participation and strengthen national unity.…”