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''Évolué'' (, "evolved" or "developed") is a French label used during the colonial era to refer to a native
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n or
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
n who had "evolved" by becoming Europeanised through
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
or assimilation and had accepted European values and patterns of behavior. It is most commonly used to refer to individuals within the
Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
and
French colonial empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
s. ''Évolués'' spoke French, followed European (rather than
customary Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Norm (social), a r ...
) laws, usually held white-collar jobs (although rarely higher than clerks), and lived primarily in
urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
s of the colony.


Belgian colonies

The term was also used to describe the growing native middle class in the
Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...
(the modern-day
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
) between the latter part of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the independence of the colony in 1960. Most ''évolué''s emerged from the Congolese who filled skilled positions (such as clerks and nurses) made available by the economic boom in the country following the war. Colonial administrators defined an ''évolué'' as "a man having broken social ties with his group, ndhaving entered another system of motivations, another system of values." While there were no universal criteria for determining ''évolué'' status, it was generally accepted that one would have "a good knowledge of French, adhere to Christianity, and have some form of post-primary education." Early on in their history, most ''évolué''s sought to use their unique status to earn special privileges in the Congo. They asked that the colonial administration recognize their role as mediators between the Belgians and the native "savages." On 12 July 1948 the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo issued an ordinance creating the ''carte de mérite civique'' (civic merit card), which could be granted to any Congolese who had no criminal record, did not practice polygamy, abandoned traditional religion, and had some degree of education. Literacy was required except for those persons who had served 20 years as a customary chief or who had provided "good and faithful service" for 25 years in the administration. Cardholders were given an improved legal status and were exempt from certain restrictions on travel into European districts. Of the thousands of ''évolué''s in the Congo, only a small proportion of them earned a ''carte''. In 1957 there were 1,557 cardholders. There was discontent about the limited nature of the privileges attached to the ''carte de mérite civique'', so in 1952 the colonial administration introduced the ''carte d'immatriculation'', which granted to those who obtained it full legal equality with Europeans. The latter card was much more difficult to obtain. One who sought to obtain it had to have a letter of recommendation from his employer and pass an evaluation. The evaluation was administered by an investigative commission, which would visit a candidate in his home, examine his household items such as linen and silverware, and ascertain if he ate with his wife at the table and communicated with his children in French. After this, a candidate and his wife had to appear before the head magistrate of the provincial court to answer a series of questions. By 1958 only 217 Congolese had been awarded a ''carte d'immatriculation''. Most ''évolué''s found ''immatriculation'' irritating and by the mid-1950s the project was thoroughly discredited. Since opportunities for upward mobility through the colonial structure were limited, the ''évolué'' class institutionally manifested itself through clubs and associations. Through these groups they could enjoy trivial privileges that made them feel distinct from the Congolese "masses". In 1947, there were 110 social clubs consisting of 5,609 members throughout the Congo's cities. From 1952 to 1956, the number of clubs rose from 131 to 317, with their membership increasing from 7,661 to 15,345. Most of these associations were rather small, but some eventually grew in size to encompass entire regions and ethnic groups, such as the ''
Alliance des Bakongo The Alliance of Bakongo (french: Alliance des Bakongo, or ABAKO) was a Congolese political party, founded by Edmond Nzeza Nlandu, but headed by Joseph Kasa-Vubu, which emerged in the late 1950s as vocal opponent of Belgian colonial rule in what ...
''. ''Évolué''s organised most of the educational opportunities for women in the Belgian Congo, since the colonial government put little effort into such a venture. By 1958, colonial officials estimated that there were 175,000 people who could be classed as ''évolués'' in the colony. In the final years leading up to independence, ''évolués'' played a major role in colonial
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
as they were felt to exemplify the success of the Belgian
civilizing mission The civilizing mission ( es, misión civilizadora; pt, Missão civilizadora; french: Mission civilisatrice) is a political rationale for military intervention and for colonization purporting to facilitate the Westernization of indigenous pe ...
begun under
King Leopold II * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...
. In particular, it was felt that after independence, the assimilation of European values by the ''évolués'' meant that Belgian civilian inhabitants of the Congo could continue to live in the Congo as part of a culturally European
multiracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
state. Over time many ''évolué''s grew disillusioned with their attempts to assimilate with European culture, as it did not lead to full equality and the elimination of discrimination they sought. As this occurred, many became politically active and began pushing for Congolese independence from Belgium. In 1954, the colonial government opened
Lovanium University Lovanium University (french: Université Lovanium) was a Catholic Jesuit university in Kinshasa in the Belgian Congo. The university was established in 1954 on the Kimwenza plateau, near Kinshasa. The university continued to function after indepe ...
in
Léopoldville Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...
in order to provide university education to Congolese ''évolués''. Many of the leaders of the African nationalist parties in the Belgian Congo were members of the ''évolué'' class. In the 1970s, President of
Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
launched a policy known as ''Authenticité'' in which he called for Zairian people to renounce all the cultural legacies of the colonial period by dressing and speaking in an "authentic" Zairian manner.


French colonies

In the
French colonial empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
, ''évolués'' were seen as individuals who were the desired end product of France's assimilation policy. ''Évolués'' were treated as an
élite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
and a privileged group by the colonial administrators.


See also

*
Colon statue ''Colon'' statues, a term derived from the French ''statues colon'' ("colon" is the French noun for a colonist), are a genre of wooden figurative sculpture within African art which originated during the colonial period. The statues commonly depic ...
* Assimilados *
Ilustrado The Ilustrados (, "erudite", "learned" or "enlightened ones") constituted the Filipino educated class during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century. Elsewhere in New Spain (of which the Philippines were part), the term ''gente de ...
s *
Ladino people The Ladino people are a mix of mestizo or Hispanicized peoplesLadino' en el Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE) in Latin America, principally in Central America. The demonym ''Ladino'' is a Spanish word that is related to '' Latin ...
*
Affranchi Affranchi () is a former French legal term denoting a freedman or emancipated slave, but was a term used to refer pejoratively to mulattoes. It is used in the English language to describe the social class of freedmen in Saint-Domingue, and othe ...
s *
Emancipados Emancipado () was a term used for an African-descended social-political demographic within the population of Spanish Guinea (modern day Equatorial Guinea) that existed in the early to mid 1900s. This segment of the native population had become as ...


References


Bibliography

* DeLancey, Mark W., and DeLancey, Mark Dike (2000): ''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon'' (3rd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press. * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evolue French colonial empire Social groups Social classes Belgian colonial empire Cultural assimilation French words and phrases Black_elite