Alterity and division in colonial settings. A study of civil servants from Reunion in Antananarivo

With the rise of colonialism, Madagascar became even more attractive to immigrants from Reunion, some of whom gained employment in the public sector, while others were self-employed or worked in the private sector. Because of its social diversity and its large number of administrative jobs, Antananarivo provides, in this respect, an ideal focus of study. Exposed to the condescendence of Metropolitan France and competition from more highly educated Merina with established links to local networks, Creole civil servants working in the capital have been subject to stigmatisation. Similar to Madagascans by virtue of their social customs but tending to identify with the French, these expatriates from Reunion have struggled to find their place in the city. The study of Creole civil servants leads to a re-examination of the process governing the construction of ethnic frontiers in island societies of the Indian Ocean. Adapted from the source document.