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(De)colonizing the French Mediterranean: Connections and Power Relations

Clara-Auguste Süß in Conversation with Manuel Borutta

Dr. Manuel Borutta is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Konstanz where he founded the Mediterranean Platform (since 2019) and directed the DFG sponsored research network ModMed (2018–24). He edited A Colonial Sea: The Mediterranean, 17981956 (Routledge 2012, with Sakis Gekas) and Liquid Continent: The Mediterranean of Modernity (V&R 2023, with Fernando Esposito). He is currently finishing a monograph on (post)colonial entanglements between Algeria and France (Wallstein 2025) and is preparing an Oxford Handbook of the Modern Mediterranean (Oxford University Press, with Malte Fuhrmann, Nora Lafi, Esther Möller and Joseph Viscomi).

Map showing the connection between different cities of the Mediterranean through telegraphs.
Élisée Reclus, Nouvelle géographie universelle. La terre et les hommes, vol. 1: L’Europe méridionale, Paris, 1876, p. 50. Public domain.

Clara-Auguste Süß (CAS): From your fascinating keynote, one of the aspects that stood out to me most was the historical interconnections, dependencies, and violence linking the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. To start, could you elaborate on how interactions and entanglements between Europe and North Africa have shaped social, political, and economic structures on both sides?

Manuel Borutta (MB): The trans-Mediterranean expansion of European empires in North Africa, which began with the conquest of Algiers in 1830 and was completed with the establishment of the Protectorate over Morocco in 1911, led to a profound transformation of the Maghreb. The Ottoman Empire was pushed back from the regions that had placed themselves under its protection after the Reconquista. European empires sought to reconfigure the Maghreb into an imperial periphery, encountering resistance and adaptation from diverse local actors. This transformation had significant effects on Maghrebi societies. They lost the de facto autonomy they had enjoyed under the Ottoman Empire and became the periphery of a capitalist economic system dominated by European players. Another major shift was the transition from Muslim to non-Muslim rule, which entailed a comprehensive reorganization of relations among religious groups. In contrast to the Islamic dhimma system, Christians were now privileged, Jews were emancipated – despite resistance from Christian Europeans – and Muslims were discriminated against. The most profound changes were triggered by modern European settler colonialism in Algeria and Tunisia, where a material and cultural dispossession of Indigenous people took place. The destruction of tribal structures and nomadic practices, which continued even in the decolonized North African states, is also a colonial legacy. One central question is how deeply the nation-state concepts of postcolonial North African countries were shaped by colonial structures. This raises the further question of whether the decolonization of North Africa is truly a completed process.

CAS: That is really interesting! What kind of repercussions have these interventions led to?

MB: Europe’s colonial interventions were partly driven by Mediterranean actors, such as the Chamber of Commerce of Marseille, and from the very beginning, these interventions influenced the metropoles themselves. The Provençal port city of Marseille is a prime example of these interactions. It played a central role in the colonization of Algeria and actively participated in the realization of the Suez Canal, which connected the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Through its colonial and imperial interventions, the port city shifted from the margins of the French nation to the center of a global empire.

Marseille experienced economic growth, infrastructural modernization (such as a railway station with direct connections to Paris and a new port with docks), increased connectivity, and demographic influx from Mediterranean countries – initially predominantly from Italy, but also from Algeria since the early 20th century. The social and political effects were enormous. As diasporic communities in Marseille often organized themselves, the old elites increasingly lost control over the city. This transformation also changed Marseille’s representation. During the era of Suez Canal fever, the city promoted itself as the “Gateway to the Orient,” and around the turn of the century, it rebranded itself as a Mediterranean metropolis or an imperial center. In the interwar period, Marseille was viewed as a “Moloch of globalization” and a center of organized crime, earning the nickname “French Chicago.” This reputation was largely due to two gangster bosses of Corsican and Italian origin, Carbone and Spirito, who exploited the global connections of the new port to organize a worldwide trade of women to Latin America and opium from Asia. They closely cooperated with the right-wing populist politician Simon Sabiani, who was also of Corsican descent and not only protected them from police persecution but also granted them access to the Prefecture. During this time, Marseille became a popular setting for crime films and novels. To this day, the city continues to struggle against the image of being a haven for illegal immigration and illicit businesses.

CAS: Fascinating – Marseille is certainly a prime example of interactions on the Mediterranean and their tangible consequences on the local, urban level. Moving to a more abstract level, how have (colonial) histories and dependencies shaped our conceptualization of “the Mediterranean” today? What are the historical origins of the concept, and how has its meaning evolved over time?

MB: The “Mediterraneanist” notion that the Mediterranean region forms a cultural and natural unity is of imperial origin. It emerged in the context of France’s military-scientific expeditions to Egypt (1798–1801), the Peloponnese (1828–33), and Algeria (1839–41). Archaeological excavations were – and are – an expression of European appropriation of the monumental pasts of ancient empires (Pharaonic Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Rome). Europe saw itself as the successor to these ancient empires and sought to claim their legacy. In contrast, the periods of Arab and Ottoman rule were regarded as “dark centuries” (Émile-Félix Gautier). Anthropological studies of the differences between Berbers and Arabs also contributed to an imperial policy of divide et impera (divide and rule). While Arabs and Muslims were considered foreign elements to the region, Kabyles were regarded as Mediterranean relatives who were only superficially Islamized and therefore appeared easy to assimilate.

In the first third of the 20th century, Louis Bertrand who worked as teacher in Algeria around 1900 coined the concept of “Latin Africa”, which viewed European settlement of the Maghreb as a return to Africa in continuity with ancient Rome. North Africa was seen as a genuine part of Europe, in which Islam was only a superficial decoration on a Latin Christian foundation. In a role reversal, the settlers were portrayed as the true indigenous people and the Arabs and Muslims as usurpers of the region. At the same time, fascist Italy claimed the Mediterranean as mare nostro and spazio vitale. In addition, fascist Italy claimed French and British territories in the Mediterranean region where Italians lived under ‘foreign’ rule (Corsica, Malta, Tunisia). In response to this fascist challenge to French hegemony, French intellectuals in interwar Algeria and France developed new concepts of the Mediterranean that emphasized the longue durée of Mediterranean continuities, as well as the unity and uniqueness of Mediterranean culture. During this time, the first Mediterranean academies and research centers were founded on the Côte d’Azur. Gabriel Audisio, who travelled constantly between his birthplace Marseille, Paris, Algiers and other ports in the western Mediterranean due to his father’s professional activities and his own work for the Algerian tourism authority, developed his concept of the Mediterranean as a “sixth,” “liquid continent” that did not belong to any nation, empire, or continent (such as Europe), but rather to all Mediterranean peoples. Although Audisio, who worked for the Office Algérie d’action économique et touristique (OFALAC), which marketed Algerian agricultural products and tourist destinations, did not question France’s colonial rule in the Maghreb, his Mediterranean concept was more inclusive, recognizing Phoenicians and Jews, Arabs and Muslims as part of Mediterranean culture.

Fernand Braudel, the founding father of Mediterranean studies, who worked as a teacher in Algeria from 1923 to 1932, was strongly influenced by these Mediterraneanist discourses of the interwar period. On one hand, he adopted their notions of the longue durée, their orientalist biases, and the glorification of colonization as a civilizing mission. On the other hand, he revolutionized historical concepts of space and time and made a significant contribution to the social, economic, and environmental history of the early modern Mediterranean.

CAS: It is intriguing to see how the concept has evolved over time and how different perspectives continue to shape our understanding of the Mediterranean today. Based on that, to what extent do you think “the Mediterranean” is a useful analytical category, and what are its limitations? Related to this, how can we challenge Eurocentric narratives?

MB: Since the 21st century, there has been a surge in Mediterranean studies, which initially focused on fostering dialogue between disciplines and experts on premodern and non-European societies: archaeologists, ancient historians, medievalists, historians of the early modern period, and anthropologists. I believe the Mediterranean paradigm can also be useful for analyzing modern and contemporary societies bordering the Mediterranean Sea because it allows us to examine the interactions and entanglements between Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, breaking away from the compartmentalized approach that often dominates Area Studies. These Mediterranean subregions have been, and continue to be, closely interconnected through religion and empires, capitalism and tourism, Music and diet, making it meaningful to approach them within a unified analytical framework. The spatial framework of the Mediterranean can contribute to this effort. However, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of perpetuating outdated – imperialistic and Eurocentric – notions of Mediterranean unity, continuity, and uniqueness. Instead, it is essential to take seriously the diversity of the region and the varied experiences of modernity among its inhabitants.

We need a multiperspective view of the Mediterranean that includes Arab, Berber and Ottoman, Jewish and Muslim perspectives and concepts of the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, thinkers and scholars from the Maghreb have so far had limited participation in the Anglophone discourse on Mediterranean studies, largely because contributions in Arabic (as well as in German, Greek, Italian, or Turkish) tend to be overlooked. They are more present in the Francophone debate, including in dialogue events organised by institutions such as the MuCEM in Marseille. However, this Francophone debate is taking place between former colonisers and colonised in the language of the former colonisers, which sometimes puts a strain on intellectual exchange. We should also pay more attention to Mediterranean islands such as Malta, Sicily and Corsica, which were and are focal points of interactions and interdependencies between different areas and continents. In this sense, our Oxford Handbook of the Mediterranean aims to contribute to a new understanding of the region beyond Eurocentrism.

CAS: Thank you for this – I think this is a crucial point and I am sure the handbook will make a valuable contribution to the debate! I would like to return to the beginning of our conversation: Referring to the conception of the Arab nation-state, you raised the question of whether the decolonization of North Africa is truly a completed process. How can we, as scholars, contribute to decolonization efforts both on an abstract and practical level, such as through our approach to the field or via collaboration?

MB: Firstly, by examining historical continuities and changes in relations between colonial and postcolonial societies on both sides of the Mediterranean, such as racist ideas about Arabs, Berbers and Muslims, or nationalist myths that nationally color the pre-colonial and colonial periods of history. The Arab nation-states of North Africa are a product of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and colonization by European empires. They are comparatively young nation-states that have lost ethnic and religious diversity compared to the period of Ottoman and European governance.

Secondly, by examining the continuities and changes in relations between Europe and North Africa during the colonial and postcolonial period. Although we now live in a post-Eurocentric world, states like France still have great influence in the Mediterranean and North Africa. They should reflect more critically on their colonial interventions in the region, instead of falling back into neocolonial attitudes. Conversely, the current governments of North African states should free themselves from the spell of colonialism. Colonialism as a form of rule ended about 70 years ago. Today, it is no longer solely responsible for all current problems of Maghreb societies. The agency of North African elites should not be underestimated.

CAS: Do you also see challenges associated with decolonization efforts?

MB: The term decolonization initially refers to the historical period of liberation from colonial rule that occurred in North Africa in the mid-20th century. Today, however, the intellectual project of decolonization aims to criticize and overcome Eurocentric categories and narratives. In our efforts to deconstruct colonial and nationalist narratives, we should demonize neither colonialism nor postcolonial nationalism and treat them as monolithic blocks, but try to understand both phenomena in their diversity, contradictions and entanglements. I would like to give just one example of this. As a teacher at the Grand Lycée in Algiers, Braudel was part of the colonial education system. He examined his students on the history of French Algeria. In his early reviews and essays, and as one of the organizers of the centenary celebrations of the French conquest of Algiers, he glorified the ‘French work in North Africa’. Nevertheless, in his La Méditerranee et le monde méditerranéen à l’époque de Philippe II, he developed a theory of cultural spaces (espaces culturels) that declared the transplantation of cultures – and thus implicitly the project of making Algeria French – impossible because he assumed that cultures are rooted in specific territories. This theory was later taken up by Samuel P. Huntington and is now part of the arsenal of the New Right, but during the period of decolonization in the 1950s and 60s it could be used as an argument by anti-colonial movements. A colonial author has thus produced an anti-colonial theory. These ironies and contradictions of colonialism are lost sight of when colonialism is understood as a monolithic block. Don’t get me wrong, colonialism was undoubtedly a violent system of domination and transformation. Yet, like all forms of human thought, colonial thinking was marked by internal diversity and contradictions. With regard to postcolonial nationalism, we should also refrain from heroization. The FLN killed more Muslims than non-Muslims in the Algerian War. Its victims included not only ‘collaborators’ with the French colonial power, but also sympathizers and members of rival nationalist groups, especially the Messalists. After Algeria’s independence, the Berbers were marginalized within the FLN. And there were also serious, violent conflicts among the Arab members. Postcolonial nationalism should therefore neither be heroized nor understood as a monolithic bloc. Historians should always paint in shades of grey, not black and white.

CAS: To conclude this conversation, allow me one last question: Based on your research and experience, what advice would you offer to current and future scholars in the fields of Mediterranean studies and adjunct fields?

MB: As you know, I am a historian of European history. I can read German, English, Latin, French and Italian sources, but not Arabic or Ottoman. This means that I can only research European perspectives on the Mediterranean and am otherwise reliant on translations of literature and sources from other languages to integrate these into my picture of the Mediterranean. This is why dialogue and exchange between sub- and trans-Mediterranean area studies are so important. Within Mediterranean studies, it is important that experts on North Africa engage in exchange with experts on other regions (the Middle East, the Balkans, Western Europe, Mediterranean Islands etc.) and periods (Ottoman, European, post-colonial) in order to better understand the similarities, differences, and relationships between these regions. If we want to better understand the particularities of the Mediterranean, it is essential to compare and contrast it with other areas of intense maritime interaction. We don’t have to go as far as the Caribbean; the Red Sea and the Black Sea can also be compared with the White Sea. A maritime widening of the horizon could help Mediterranean and other Area studies to overcome overly fixed ideas about their regions and to understand them in global contexts. We have to get out of the box and leave the comfort zone of our expert knowledge.


About the Author

Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß is the Outreach and Transfer Manager for the Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA). She is responsible for organizing and coordinating MECAM’s outreach events, effectively the Rencontres Ibn Khaldun and the MECAM Policy Talk, as well as MECAM’s representation at (inter)national scientific conferences.


Other Recent Articles in the TRAFO Series A Decolonial Mediterranean

Hanan Natour, Precolonial Memory, Postcolonial Critique: Ibn Khaldun in Tunisian Arabic Fiction of the 21st Century, 11.09.2025.

Annamaria Bianco, Displaced from the Future: Crossing the Sea Back to Syria in Nesrine Khoury’s Speculative Novel Wadi Qandil, 19.08.2025.


Citation: Clara-Auguste Süß; Manuel Borutta, (De)colonizing the French Mediterranean: Connections and Power Relations, in: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 02.10.2025, https://trafo.hypotheses.org/61765


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Forum Transregionale Studien (October 2, 2025). (De)colonizing the French Mediterranean: Connections and Power Relations. TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research. Retrieved January 18, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/14uar


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  1. 25. October 2025

    […] Süß and Manuel Borutta, (De)colonizing the French Mediterranean: Connections and Power Relations, […]

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