Organisé par Véronique Dimier et le laboratoire SAGE (Sociétés, Acteurs, Gouvernement en Europe) (Université de Strasbourg et CNRS), avec la participation financière de la Chaire Gutenberg, Palais Universitaire de Strasbourg

Programme

« Many scholars have emphasised the continuity between colonial and post colonial states and politics. So far however few studies exist on the continuity of businesses, i.e. the role played by companies of the former colonial states in the economy and development policies of the newly independent countries as well as in the economy and politics of the former colonial powers. Some scholars have analysed the role of these companies during colonization and decolonization, but if they provide useful information on the way these companies adapted to the new context of the 1950s-1960s, they do not see how they could maintain their interest in the long run confronted with the changing elite of the African states and with the competition from companies of other countries. Also, the question we will ask will be : what strategies did the companies of France, Britain, Belgium (be private or state-own) adopt to maintain their influence in former French, British and Belgium colonies and/or what strategies did companies from other countries adopt to get new markets and opportunities in the newly independent states, especially in Africa. To answer this question, we will focus on networks between these companies, the elite in power in those states and the personnel of former colonial powers or other European states. »