Mayotte, this island in the Indian Ocean is unfortunately making
headlines with the passage of cyclone Chido with disastrous consequencesfor the inhabitants. How will France intervene to repair the damage and
finally build a more just and egalitarian society? What will the prefect
in the white suit do like the former governors of the colonies? Colony,
the word is out. Rémi Carayol titles his book published by La fabrique
as follows: Mayotte, Colony Department. ---- Could Mayotte be a confetti
of the French colonial empire? How can it be a department? At the time
of writing, it is too early to present an inventory of the island after
the passage of the cyclone. Let's take advantage of it to better
understand its institutional and social specificity. As a warning, Rémi
Carayol reestablishes the Comorian names of the islands, Mayotte will be
called, in his book, Maore. During the last legislative elections in
2024, the island elected a National Rally MP. "This political
curiosity[...]is the fruit of a unique history: Maore presents a unique
case of consensual colonization and voluntary uprooting ratified fifty
years ago by the dislocation of the Comoros archipelago." Rémi Carayol
takes up this whole story. "This unique history has made Maore a sort of
living museum of colonization, a representation of what the colonized
countries could have become if they had not obtained their independence,
if they too had opted for the Empire and therefore for their own
alienation. It shows if not the "ultimate stage" of colonization (does
it exist?) at least a very advanced stage, more complex than it seems,
more destabilizing, made of unsaid things, lies and great symbolic
violence" states the author. Let us specify that the situation of the
so-called independent states is not very bright for all that.
The official discourse is the official lie
The island is part of these colonial conquests obtained by the cunning
of Louis-Philippe's France in 1841. As usual, the French brought
civilization to a people without history, this is the official
discourse, this is the official lie. All peoples have a culture and a
history. The first part of the book focuses on a historical synthesis
and underlines France's rewriting of the conquest. Even today, political
leaders claim that Mayotte was not conquered but that it voluntarily
placed itself under French sovereignty by an act of cession proposed by
Sultan Andriantsoly and accepted by King Louis-Philippe. Read the pages
devoted to dismantling this official version.
Colonization in all countries has not prepared peoples to manage their
affairs. The Comoros are no exception. When independence was gained,
Maore was economically backward, the school system was particularly
deficient. Economic and political rivalries between the islands of the
archipelago stirred up opposition and the Comorians were considered
colonists! Rémi Carayol recounted the separation process and the July
1975 days. In 2011, Maore became a French department, the 101st. Several
observers noted that the institutional had taken precedence over the
economic and social. The situation of Maore society is serious, unequal,
dangerous in terms of social cohesion despite the departmental status of
common law and the related skills.
Why a departmental status?
What "higher" interest for France? Obviously for the army, the navy, it
is appropriate to have an anchor point in the Indian Ocean. The
ineffable Bob Denard was even mobilized in this sense. In this case, was
a particular effort made for the population? Rémi Carayol explains the
reality of life. When we, in France, hear about this island in the
media, it is essentially about the "hunt" for illegal immigrants. Let us
recall the words and instructions of the Ministers of the Interior. The
Information and Support Group for Immigrants (GISTI) denounces the
inhumane treatment. In 2007, historian Emmanuel Blanchard believes that
Maore has become "one of the overseas laboratories for the lowering of
the rights of foreigners". What future for unaccompanied minors?
In fact, two worlds coexist on this island. Rémi Carayol calls on Franz
Fanon, Albert Memmi, Aimé Césaire to understand this colonization
without saying so. Current events invite us to do so.
* Rémi Carayol
Mayotte, colony department
Ed. La fabrique, 2024
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8143
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten