WRP Presents - Unpacking France’s Colonial Legacy

2025-06-13

How is France reckoning with the legacy of its colonial past—and why does it remain such a polarizing topic today? Host Héloïse Daniel sits down with Jakob Vogel, historian and professor of 19th and 20th-century European history at Sciences Po, to explore how colonialism has shaped modern France, from its institutions to its national memory and why it’s harder to talk about today than it was a decade ago. Jakob Vogel spearheaded an important exhibit specifically examining Sciences Po an...

How is France reckoning with the legacy of its colonial past—and why does it remain such a polarizing topic today?

Host Héloïse Daniel sits down with Jakob Vogel, historian and professor of 19th and 20th-century European history at Sciences Po, to explore how colonialism has shaped modern France, from its institutions to its national memory and why it’s harder to talk about today than it was a decade ago.

Jakob Vogel spearheaded an important exhibit specifically examining Sciences Po and other elite educational institutions of France on how they trained and taught about colonialism during France’s colonial expansion.

Discover the online version of the exhibit SciencesPo, a Colonial History here | Find the English edition of the book Europa - Notre histoire here

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