CALL FOR PAPERS – International Conference 12–14 Nov 2019 – “The Jews of the Maghreb Protectorates and France from the Late Eighteenth Century to the Present Day”

Conference organised by the Society for the History of the Jews of Tunisia and North Africa, in partnership with various research centres.

The meeting, to be held in Paris from 12 to 14 November 2019, focuses on the situation of the Jews in the French Protectorates of Morocco and Tunisia. Within the singular political framework of the protectorate, which preserves a façade of political autonomy (unlike the status of colony or of French overseas departments developed elsewhere in the French Empire), the aim will be to examine the relationship of Jewish populations to France and, more broadly, to Europe. The full impact of the establishment of the protectorate on local Jewish communities will be analysed, taking into account a long time span extending beyond the protectorates stricto sensu, so as to trace both their antecedents and their consequences.

With this aim in mind, the following themes may be addressed:

• The circulation of people, ideas and goods between the two shores of the Mediterranean and of the Atlantic, from the end of the 18^th century until after independence, seeking to place the protectorate period within longer timeframes and to grasp its ruptures and times of crisis. Studies on the relations between Marseille (but also Bordeaux and other cities) and the protectorates would thus be welcome.
• The analysis of the legal and political status of the Jewish communities in each of the protectorates, in order to shed light in particular on the naturalisation practices developed in each of them. Faced with these highly diverse policies, what were the reactions and attitudes of the local Jewish communities? How might these policies have shaped the political or cultural relationship of the Jews to France?
• What was the cultural influence of France within the Tunisian and Moroccan Jewish communities: use of the language, adoption of everyday practices modelled on the French pattern such as dress, cuisine and schooling, not forgetting literature and the arts (painting, sculpture, music, etc.), including religious art.
• What were the social and economic consequences of the protectorate on the local Jewish communities: changes in occupational structures, entry into so-called modern occupations (clerical employees, liberal professions, even civil servants)?
• The question of gender, examining the differentiated effects of French influence on Jewish populations according to gender and analysing, in particular, how women experienced this context. So-called women’s literature could be approached from this angle.
• The relationship of Jewish populations to France through migration, notably concerning Jewish students. Comparative studies on the integration of all groups in France after decolonisation (professional, social, cultural, etc.) could be proposed on the basis of case studies.
• A comparison with Algeria could also be considered as a counterpoint.

Paper proposals must be sent no later than 10 March to colloqueshjtan2019@yahoo.com.