Indian guinée cloth, West Africa, and the French colonial empire 1826–1925: Colonialism and imperialism as agents of globalization

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the global trade of guinée cloth mainly produced in French India and exported to French West Africa from 1826 to 1925. The article first re-examines the guinée cloth and its role in the western Sahel. Second, it argues that the guinée produced in the French factories established in French India was costly but of poor quality. Consequently, a similar type of cloth made in Europe began replacing the guinée in the Senegalese market in the late nineteenth century. Therefore, the producers of the guinée in the French empire supported protective measures, although merchants and relevant governments did not always share this opinion. Furthermore, the unstable political climate of the early French Third Republic promoted frequent changes in the trade policy on guinée cloth. Consequently, in addition to the traditional route from Saint Louis, Senegal, the article demonstrates that the export of Indian guinée began through more protected routes in northern Africa and was then distributed within the wider region of West Africa. Even the Méline Tariff opened the guinée producers in French India to new markets. Through the guinée cloth trade, this study demonstrates how colonialism and imperialism could lead to globalization.