November 8 and 9, 2018, at UTBM and UHA

The Center for Research on Economies, Societies, Arts, and Technologies (CRESAT, EA 3436) at the University of Haute-Alsace (UHA) and the interdisciplinary research initiative RECITS (Research and Studies on Change
The Industrial, Technological, and Societal Division of the FEMTO-ST Joint Research Unit (6174), UTBM, and ComUE UBFC have chosen to dedicate the eighth Industrial History Conference to the theme of industries in the colonies and indigenous peoples in industry.

The relationship between colonialism and industrialization has been the subject of major debates among economists and historians, many of which remain unresolved: the role of the colonies in the industrialization of the mother countries, the role of technologies that facilitated colonization, and the economic significance of the colonies during decolonization.
Beyond these debates, which remain relevant today, the question of the industrialization of the colonies themselves has received little attention from historians and economists. It was understood that, within the framework of unequal trade, the economies of the colonies were characterized by a high degree of specialization in the primary sector and an overdevelopment of the tertiary sector, but there was virtually no industry—with a few exceptions—driven by non-economic considerations: preparation for war, war itself, or postwar management.
“Industry in the colonies” appears, in peacetime, to be an oxymoron in the eyes of historians, but the oxymoron is itself historical, for “industrialization” is the most “out” word in articles published on the colonial phenomenon—in contrast to “in” words such as “identity.”
The goal of the JHI is therefore to further explore the presence of industries in French or foreign colonies—whether of local or European origin, precolonial or colonial—as well as the chronology of their emergence and disappearance, and the causes of these phenomena at the local level, while also analyzing, on a broader scale, the shifting attitudes of various actors toward the issue of colonial industrialization.

[upside_button class="kopa-button blue-button small-button kopa-button-icon" link="http://www.utbm.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Programme_JHI_2018_WEB.pdf" target=""]Download the program[/upside_button]