Theory question 109
Colonial AdministrationDiscuss five ways in which the Policy of Association promoted local participation in governance, compared to the Policy of Assimilation.
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Any five, discussed: association used traditional chiefs as agents, assimilation largely ignored them; association respected African culture, laws and institutions, assimilation sought to replace them with French ones; association involved local people through chiefs and customary courts in day-to-day administration; councils of notables gave local leaders a voice; association accepted that Africans could develop in their own way, so more people could take part, while assimilation limited participation to the few 'évolués' who became French citizens; association was applied widely, assimilation mostly in the four Senegal communes.
Each point should contrast association with assimilation.