Terra, Fome e Sangue: uma análise da política fundiária colonial francesa na Argélia e suas consequências (1830-1880)

Abstract

This dissertation examines colonial land policies in Algeria under French rule between 1830 and 1880. To this end, it analyzes land laws and practices such as the Sénatus-consulte of 1863 and the Warnier Law of 1873. The study aims to assess how these land policies subjected Algerian populations to a process of sociopolitical and economic vulnerability. In doing so, it addresses key issues, including: the French occupation of Algeria; the construction of concepts and categories that underpinned the ideological framework of the colonial enterprise; land disputes; the consequences of colonial actions, such as famine; and the clash of colonial interest groups at the expense of the needs of Arabs and Berbers, who constituted the majority of the population. The research adopts a sociohistorical approach by integrating historiographical and sociological literature. In addition to a bibliographic review, it conducts documentary analyses of both the compiled corpus of land legislation and contemporary accounts related to the topics under discussion (e.g., nomadism and famine). In my dissertation, I argue that one of the central points that the territorial reorganization of Algeria profoundly disrupted rural populations’ ways of life by destabilizing their relationship with the environment. Among the study’s findings is a comprehensive overview of the colonial establishment process during the 19th century, highlighting not only its physical violence (which resulted in an estimated death toll of over 1.000.000 natives) but also its structural dimensions. The death toll from colonial violence includes famine victims, understood here not as a natural phenomenon but as a direct consequence of power relations imposed under colonial rule.