Examples of Some French Ethnographic Studies on Algerian Society During The Colonial Period (Eurasian Society As A Model)

Ethnography created a source of anxiety for France when it prepared the project to occupy Algeria. The project was built on ethnographic and sociological studies carried out by men of scientific missions and travelers, in which French orientalists made great efforts to study Algerian society and get to know its various components since they first set foot on the land of Algeria. The exploratory process of the Algerian social reality by the French army was based mainly on field investigation and observations. The form of investigation dominated French ethnographic research in Algeria, and resorting to such ethnographic investigations was dictated by the urgent need for information and data about Algerian society so that the appropriate strategy could be set that would allow for total control. Finally, this study reveals the reality of French ethnographic studies in Algeria, in addition to the purpose of the huge number of these studies, most of which serve the French settlement project in Algeria.