Abstract
Abstract The history of the Service des centres sociaux in Algeria brings together ideas about integration, fundamental education, and the existence of a unified Franco-Muslim community during the Algerian War. This chapter pairs the history of education and international development to study approaches to human development in Algeria before independence in 1962. Sanctioned by the Governor-General of Algeria, Jacques Soustelle, the centres sought to modernize the Algerian masses through improving literacy rates, and increasing Muslim Algerians’ access to medical and social services. Linked to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Fundamental Education Programs, the centres arose out of local initiatives to break down barriers between communities and to meet the needs of the most disenfranchised in the midst of colonial violence and injustice.
Highlights
At ten o’clock in the morning on 15 March 1962, six Services des centres sociaux (Social Service Centers) directors met at Château-Royal on the outskirts of Algiers
Within minutes, armed commandos belonging to the Secret Army Organization (Organisation de l’armée secrète, OAS) suddenly interrupted the meeting, escorted the six directors outside, and murdered them in cold blood
The Service des centres sociaux represented an official attempt sponsored by the Governor-General of Algeria, Jacques Soustelle, to modernize the Algerian masses through increasing literacy rates, improving hygiene practices, and increasing Muslim Algerians’ access to medical and social services
Summary
At ten o’clock in the morning on 15 March 1962, six Services des centres sociaux (Social Service Centers) directors met at Château-Royal on the outskirts of Algiers. DURHAM directors in March 1962 effectively decapitated the Service des Centres Sociaux and cut short its potential recovery before official recognition of Algerian independence This bloody bookend distorts what the centres sociaux represented and what they were able to accomplish during the tumultuous period between 1955 and 1962. Bringing together the history of education, development, and decolonization in Algeria is crucial to this more complete understanding of the centres sociaux and the potential for integrating Algeria’s Muslim and European communities after the Second World War.. The centres sociaux absorbed fundamental education’s paternalist and nebulous approach to human development, and its optimism They manifested their commitment to integration by hiring a diverse staff of Muslims and Europeans and by producing pedagogical tools especially tailored to their Algerian situation.. Pairing the history of education with international development in Algeria offers fruitful terrain for studying local and international approaches to human development in the decade leading up to Algerian independence in 1962.8
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