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Culture without borders. / La culture sans frontières.

Pascal Blanchard Examines a Century of Decolonization and Memory Conflicts in France

Historian Pascal Blanchard, with co-authors Sandrine Lemaire and Nicolas Bancel, traces a century of African decolonizations and ongoing memory conflicts in France, focusing on colonial repression in the 1940s, independence around 1960, and current debates before the 2027 presidential election.


Léa Marchand
Léa Marchand
October 12, 2026  ·  1 min read
B-Empire Magazine
Brief

Historian Pascal Blanchard has published Decolonizations, 1925-2026: Paths to Independence and Memory Conflicts, co-written with Sandrine Lemaire and Nicolas Bancel, which chronicles a century of political upheavals related to decolonization.

In an interview broadcast on France 24, he reflects on colonial repressions during the 1940s, the wave of African independences around 1960, as well as the debates that continue to divide French society today.

This work comes amid a political context marked by the upcoming 2027 French presidential election, where issues related to colonial legacy remain intensely debated.

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