Domination by consent: The Bureaux arabes and public instruction in colonial Algeria, 1831--1870

The paper examines educational policies in colonial Algeria between 1831 and 1870, and the efforts of the French military Offices of Arab Affairs ( Bureaux arabes) to restructure the socio-cultural environment of Algeria according to colonial imperatives by implementing a curriculum of instruction designed to achieve "domination by consent." The thesis begins with a survey of the philosophical and ideological bases of colonial instruction, its affinities with the political and cultural initiatives of the civilising mission, and the concessions to local or metropolitan forces and politics in its implementation and administration.;Next, I present an overview of the circumstances in which the Arab Bureaux appropriated the cultural mission of France in Algeria by highlighting two transitions in educational policy-making, namely the periods between 1844--1848 and 1860--1863.;Finally, I consider the limits or "horizons" of cultural hegemony, first, in terms of the political, economic, and cultural outlets that were promised or offered to the educated natives upon graduation, and second, in terms of indigenous or other resistances and counter-projects to the colonial plan. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).