In 1931, Simone Weil read an article by Louis Roubaud in the "Petit Parisien" that exposed the Yen Bay massacre in Indochina. From then onwards, she cared most about the French colonial situation. This work translates 13 of Weil's articles about the situation.

In 1931, Simone Weil read an article by Louis Roubaud in the "Petit Parisien" that exposed the Yen Bay massacre in Indochina. That article opened Weil's eyes, and from then until her death in exile in 1943, she cared most deeply about the French colonial situation. Weil refused to accept the contradiction between the image of France as champion of the rights of man and the reality of France's exploitation and oppression of the peoples in its territories. Weil wrote thirteen articles or letters about the situation, writings originally publishsed in French journals or in French collections of her work. These translations introduce to English-speaking scholars and students this important element of Weil's political consciousness.

Colonization
letter to the Indochinese
Morocco, or a lesson in theft
a little history concerning Morocco
blood is flowing in Tunisia
who is guilty of anti-French plots?
"these throbbing limbs of the fatherland"
(a protest)
reflections on Bouche's lecture
(about the colonial regime)
new facts about the colonial problem in the French empire
(after Munich)
letter to Jean Giraudoux
letter to Dermenghem
about the problems in the French Empire
treatment of Negro war-prisoners from the French army
concerning the colonial question in its relationship with the destiny of the French people
(extracts from L'Enracinement). Appendix A: Louis Roubaud
Viet Nam - the Indochinese tragedy
goodnight N'Guyen!
Yen Bay Vespers
fifteen hundred silent men
on the sky road
Wampoa school
"Limpid River"
the "Great Teacher"
"Right and Virtue"
Viet-Nam! Viet-Nam! (cablegram of the execution)
Min chen the life of the people
more on the life of the people
indirect taxes, salt tax, alcohol, opium. Appendix B: Albert Londres
land of ebony
loggers
the drama of the Conto-Ocean
a few reflections after the journey. Appendix C: Felicien Challaye
memories of colonization
in French Indochina
first contact
in the French Congo
in the French Congo - the situation of the natives
in French Indochina - the situation of the Annamites
conclusion. Appendix D: Emile Dermenghem, the North-African crisis.