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Becoming elite in a contested terrain: The post-colonial experiences of the Franco-

Mauritian population in Mauritius  

Review by Serah Shani 

 

The Franco-Mauritian Elite: Power and Anxiety in the Face of Change  

By Tijo Salverda  

Berghahn Books, 2015  

 

 

Reading postcolonial Sub-Saharan African political history books usually evokes a sense that African 

indigenous people, mostly phenotypically black Sub-Saharan people, were subject to a heroic European 

colonial conquest and suffered the effects of political domination at every level of society thereafter. 

Such books portray militant control, identity reclamation, and spatial ownership tied to pre-conquest 

origins. In this sense, indigenous Africans are perceived as the rightful claimants of geographic 

ownership and identity. However, according to author Tijo Slaverda, the case of Mauritius is unique, in 

that there were no original inhabitants in the country by the time the first Europeans arrived. Through 

an anthropological approach, the author writes an ethnography of the Franco-Mauritian elite in six 

chapters. In his writings, he breaks down the contested elite category of the Franco- Mauritians and 

discusses the struggles they experience in order to defend and maintain their elite positions. The author 

traces Franco-Mauritians’ history, politics, and culture within a complex, diverse population of people 

who arrived in Mauritius much later and whose elite status is continually threatened. The author argues 

that, “This absence of natives facilitated white settlers to establish an elite position without much 

competition or resistance” (p.  2). According to the author, the island was empty at the beginning of the 

colonial period, and Europeans of French origin were the first to inhabit and populate the island. Other 

immigrants from Africa and other parts the world arrived later and became subservient to Europeans. 

Later, immigrants were brought to Mauritius mainly as indentured workers and slaves to boost and 

further European economic and political dominance.  



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The author points to another factor contributing to the uniqueness of this island: the arrival and 

presence of the Indo-Mauritians, who, at the dawn of independence, became the leading political elites. 

In the case of Mauritius, Indo-Mauritians, a group that migrated as indentured workers, won a majority 

of political contests. Regardless of the Indo-Mauritians advantage of power in numbers, the island’s 

population was very ethnically diverse at the time of independence: “…the island was overpopulated, 

rife with ethnic tension” (p. 1). And yet, the author shows how, despite ethnic political competition, 

Franco-Mauritians have historically carved out ways to maintain and negotiate their elite social 

position and dominance in the country, even after losing their elite such places within the political 

arena.  

 

Salverda describes elite positions and categories as contested and fluid terrains. He argues that, 

contrary to the traditional notions of elite positions as an all-powerful and all-controlling group, the 

Franco-Mauritian elites display insecurity and conflict, and they employ persistence as a technique to 

maintain their status quo—a status perceived to be attractive to competitors vying for those very 

privileges. During his fieldwork, Salverda noted that “Elites often seem to be perfectly aware of their 

vulnerability” (p. 3), and “this shows, in my opinion, that for understanding elite practices, we have to 

take seriously these feelings of anxiety (p. 34).  Historically, the Franco-Mauritian ethnic category is 

understood as having enjoyed elite positions of privilege in several ways, such as pre-independence 

political, economic, and social spaces. Traditional notions of elites’ use of power based on political and 

economic privilege worked well when unchallenged or minimally challenged. However, when new 

forms of political elites emerged, dominated by the Indo-Mauritians, the Franco-Mauritian elite’s 

expressions had to be adjusted and deconstructed to adapt to the new government, where excessive 

power use became rationed or expressed in non-coercive ways, taking, instead, more influential and 

persuasive forms. The author states that “this is a clear departure from the colonial heyday, 

undermining, moreover the assumption that the elite are more powerful and only use their power 

expansively…. Franco-Mauritians oppose, fear and have an attitude of adopting a low profile” (p. 2–3). 

Tied to a motherland that is shared by a large and diverse population, Franco-Mauritians struggle to 

maintain their elite position while also working to develop their country and striving to “maintain a 

balance between continuity and change” (p. 4). 

 

Salverda also explains how, in former colonies, historical and political transformations, and sometimes 

oppressive pasts, are used to legitimize the political power of the majority over the masses and to 



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denigrate minority elite as unfit for contemporary political arenas. These trends cut across many 

countries in Africa where economically and politically viable minority white populations, though 

economically powerful, could not take political positions at independence. The examples of countries 

in Africa that the author cites most are South Africa and Zimbabwe. In Mauritius, such invocations 

involved fossilized reminders of many years of slavery, indentured labor, and white political and 

economic dominance during the colonial regime. When these bygone days were invoked, the Franco-

Mauritian elites chose to refrain from public political debate, and instead take a more passive political 

approach by remotely participating from the margins of society. However, because of their economic 

dominance and influence, they own the most suitable land for sugar plantations — the primary 

economic base for the island—they are able to transform their economic power into political influence, 

negotiating the political arena surreptitiously with the political elites from another ethnic majority 

group, mainly the Indo-Mauritians. Hence Franco-Mauritians adapt to political change over time, 

addressing challenges as they appear, prompting the author to state, “I start from the premise that 

Franco-Mauritians and elite more generally do not necessarily act with a predetermined plan.” (p. 5). 

However, the author demonstrates how modes of inclusion into and exclusion from the elite category 

can play a significant role in maintaining status, such as controlling who is allowed into the elite 

networks, social clubs, job opportunities, schools, and neighborhoods. The Franco-Mauritian case 

demonstrates how these inclusionary and exclusionary undercurrents become more complex when 

physical characteristics become a prerequisite. Physically, “Franco-Mauritians’ most prominent sign of 

elite superiority is their white skin color” (p. 15), a controversial reminder of the bitter past of 

colonialism and slavery. Whites are also widely acknowledged as the main custodian of the islands’ 

economic power. These economic power spaces are a terrain that Franco-Mauritians “jealously”  guard 

from other ethnic groups, especially the Indo-Mauritians, the custodians of the political arena.      

 

The author portrays the configuration and consolidation of elite categories as continuous activities. 

Franco-Mauritians strive to maintain their white hegemony and cohesion by adhering to a system that 

perpetuates a reproduction of white elites. Culture becomes crucial as a mechanism for social 

reproduction. Ethnic endogamous marriages are reinforced, and exogamy is frowned upon to the 

extreme; marrying outside of the elite could mean the loss of elite inclusion. Phenotypical attributes 

become crucial, and genealogies are used as a form of social control to prove “absence of non-white 

genes” (p. 123), and patriarchy demands that wealth is passed on from generation to generation. While 

culture plays a big role in maintaining boundaries, the author argues, elites use other means to compete 



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and excel beyond their challengers. For example, the author speaks of how the elite take their children 

to elite schools and are also able to take them for further studies abroad, especially to France. Their 

children later come back to compete for better-paying jobs within their networks. In a country where 

ethnic seclusion and identity is acceptable, Franco-Mauritians are also able to have their own elite 

social clubs, where most elites gather for networking, job information, dating opportunities, and 

political discussion. Social clubs act as spaces where they educate their young on elite habitus. 

Consequently, these particularistic approaches (p. 147), coupled with the control of land, sugar markets, 

and banks, position them as the main economic power on the Island and increase cohesion and 

solidarity. Hence, the author states that “They share a number of characteristics, a habitus, which 

shapes a strong, multidimensional sense of belonging and eliteness” (p.147).  

 

Elite studies can sound conventionally obvious, mostly in relation to economic power and political 

power, until one considers the dynamics of how elite statuses are configured, consolidated, maintained, 

protected, transformed, challenged, changed, and manipulated over long historical periods and within 

different political regimes. The elite status may become even more complex when associated with skin 

color, specifically “whites,” in 21st century Africa, where elites, by an almost agreed-upon political 

consensus, are meant to be legitimately and selectively indigenous ethnic groups. The author 

acknowledges these complexities by stating, “but what if the elite position is not only defined by its 

(economic, political or other) function, but also by its distinctive physical characteristics” (p. 4), 

referring to Franco-Mauritians, where their white skin operates as a symbol of eliteness.  

 

From an ethnographic perspective, Salverda used a holistic anthropological approach to capture how 

Franco-Mauritians have managed to prolong and protect their elite status over a long period of time. 

The author precisely states the role of the research: “This ethnography of Franco-Mauritian elite aims 

to analyze the intricacies of an elite position—and its prolongation over time—by unraveling the 

multidimensionality of an elite position. Certainly, I try to grasp how an elite tries to maintain its 

position over time” (p. 5). The book aims to reveal the many complexities that exist in elite power, 

particularly the anxieties encountered in maintaining their status. 

 

Serah Shani is an assistant professor of anthropology at Westmont College. Her research interest lies 

broadly in exploring the social life of cities, and more particularly the informal and innovative 

strategies by which different ethnic and racial urban residents claim their rights to the city. Her current 

research looks at urban migration, transnational movements, identities and the sociocultural, economic 

adaptation of recent African immigrants to the United States. Dr. Shani graduated from Columbia 



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University, where she did her fieldwork among African immigrants in New York City. Her research has 

been published in Harvard Educational Review. Her research in Africa seeks to examine how market 

economies influence parenting strategies among marginalized and indigenous groups and how these 

strategies inform children’s future economic trajectories. Dr. Shani is also conducting research on elite 

formation among indigenous groups in East Africa. 

 

 

 

© 2018 Serah Shani 


