Colonial Metropolis: The Urban Grounds of Anti-Imperialism and Feminism in Interwar Paris

Acknowledgments

aCknowledgMents Every twist and encounter in my journey through archives and libraries has shaped my work in significant ways. When I first arrived, Paris was in the grip of prolonged strikes. Not only was it far more difficult to navigate public transportation with two large bags, but the Archives Nationales, where I would have started my research, were closed. After the strikes they did not reopen: the asbestos plaguing their locales forced a temporary relocation and placed limits on document viewing. I thus spent far more time than expected at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and elsewhere; the fortunate result was the juxtaposition between archives, literature, magazines, newspapers, and images that defines this book. Thank you to the archivists, librarians, and staffs at the many institutions I visited in my pursuit of such sources (an, ans, app, bdic, bhvp, bmd, bnf, caf, and caom). I could not afford a taxi from the airport when I arrived in Paris (even if I had been able to find one, a difficult endeavor during strikes) because when I started substantive research I had yet to land the necessary grants. My advisors did not allow my resolve to dampen, instead encouraging me to keep applying while researching. For their intellectual engagement, solidarity, and confidence in me, I cannot thank enough John Merriman, Christopher Miller, and Kevin Repp. Their creative research, critical thinking, and friendship have been truly inspirational. They also made sure that I did not leave for France entirely without backing. Although I am a historian, Yale University’s French Department found a spot for me in its exchange program with the Ecole Normale Supérieure. A room in Paris is not a small gift, especially ix x Acknowledgments when located only five minutes from the police archives. And after teaching my way through a few months of research, my luck with grants turned. I appreciate every single one of them all the more for the time I spent without any. Financial support came from a Bernadotte E. Schmitt grant from the American Historical Association; an Edouard Morot-Sir grant from the Institut Français de Washington; Smith Richardson grants from International Security Studies at Yale; a John Perry Miller grant from Yale; and last, but certainly not least, the Yale Center for International and Area Studies. In France, days spent covered in the bits that crumble from aging acid paper (no matter how carefully one handles it) were made far less dry by evenings spent in good company. Sandrine Teixidor and Cybelle McFadden Wilkens are talented scholars whose companionship and work I marveled at over many a drink and meal. Déborah and Oscar Wollmann showed me their remarkable Paris. My aunt, Dominique Boittin, regularly invited me over for Sunday lunches and always had a kir, a devastating sense of humor, and selfless generosity on hand with which to warm my heart. Claire and Jean-Baptiste Danel shared their home and meals with me on numerous occasions and supported early research by handing me the keys to a chambre de bonne. Eliane and Maurice Lenoir created a home away from home in the 13ème for months at a time, and their cooking tips as well as Eliane’s coq au vin and prodding to just finish the book are much appreciated. In Aix-en-Provence the famille Darbois shared a room with a poolside view, a quirky Renault 5, and endless supplies of tapenade. Not only has writing given me far more respect for every work that graces my bibliography than I already had, but one of the most fascinating aspects of transforming this project from a dissertation into a book has been meeting many of the scholars who wrote these texts. In particular, the following ones read portions of the manuscript as commentators for conferences or helped me to work through theoretical or source-based quandaries in conversations: Naomi Andrews, Elisa Camiscioli, Julia Clancy-Smith, Alice Conklin, Brent Hayes Edwards , Laura Frader, Félix Germain, Herman (Gene) Lebovics, Patricia Lorcin, Gregory Mann, Dominic Thomas, Owen White, and Gary Acknowledgments xi Wilder. There is nothing small about such gestures, especially since you had no way of knowing how I would incorporate them into my work, and I thank you for your time. Richard Fogarty, Karen Offen, Mary Louise Roberts, and Tyler Stovall all read substantial portions or the entire manuscript at various stages: the depth and nuances of...