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This article analyses how colonial policy was developed by French socialist federations in colonised Algeria during the interwar period. It explores the federations’ relations with the Socialist Party’s national leadership and Algerian politics more broadly. It shows how doctrinal evolution was linked to the broadening of militant social horizons on the ground. In fact, the concept of colonial and colonialist socialism was gradually revised into a more nuanced vision that took into consideration the evolving socialist doctrine in Algeria. Nonetheless, the Algerian socialist movement ultimately had little influence on the colonial policy of the French Socialist Party as a whole.