BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 19. Algeria in the
north experienced one of the harshest assaults of colonialism,
described as France’s “dual-system” colonial approach,
anthropologist Hichem Daoud said at the international conference on
“Neocolonialism and Global Inequality,” Trend reports.
According to Daoud, Algerians endured intergenerational trauma
under colonial rule.
“First and foremost, there was torture and moral persecution.
Torture causes physical wounds, while moral persecution leaves
psychological scars. French colonial ideology promoted the idea of
a ‘superior race,’ which was reinforced over time. France paid
particular attention to archaeology to allegedly prove genetic
superiority. French archaeologist Stéphane Zelle, in 1911, wrote
about Algeria’s archaeological traces and focused his research on
monuments in Algeria. His studies aimed to justify the so-called
‘historical right’ of French colonial rule,” Daoud said.
He also emphasized that France applied local laws to exclude
Algerians from citizenship rights, placing them at a lower status
compared to French settlers.
“French authorities claimed, using various pseudo-scientific
theories, that the brain structure of colonized Algerians was
inferior to that of the French. Some French doctors even linked
notions of ‘backwardness’ and ‘savagery’ among the colonized
population to genetics, presenting France’s mission as an effort to
supposedly improve this ‘inferiority,’” Daoud added.
The anthropologist noted that the best path to liberation is to
overcome fear, act collectively, preserve the historical heritage
of colonized peoples, study collective memory to restore authentic
identity, strengthen communication tools, and create an environment
for the free circulation of independent voices.
