Race Discourse And Power In France

A collection of papers and interviews concerned with theoretical reflections on race and empirical analysis which brings together British and French researchers. Considers the problems connected with the function of the concept of race in contemporary French society, especially immigration.

First published in 1998, this book is an examination of antiracist discourses and practices in France. It sets out to trace the development of post-war French antiracism through the life of antiracist organizations, setting this within a broader historical, political and social context. It breaks new ground in that it analyses antiracism as a body of ideas in its own right, rather than as a mirror image of racism. The author uses previously unpublished archival material from French organizations combined with observations from current events. She argues that antiracist discourses and practices are structured around four main themes: discrimination, representation, solidarity and hegemony. While perceptions of discrimination have evolved into complex understandings of social exclusion, the representational functions of antiracist groups were challenged by immigrant workers movements themselves. Solidarity remained central to antiracist practices in different political contexts. Underpinning these features lies a hegemonic social project through which antiracists have sought to promote a 'common sense' through political and educational campaigns. The author concludes that French antiracism although constantly changing and refocusing is now a pluralist, transversal, hegemonic movement and an important component of civil society.

French thinkers have revolutionized European thought about knowledge, religion, politics, and society. Delivering a comprehensive history of thought in France from the Middle Ages to the present, this book follows themes and developments of thought across the centuries. It provides readers with studies of both systematic thinkers and those who operate less systematically, through essays or fragments, and places them all in their many contexts. Informed by up-to-date research, these accessible chapters are written by prominent experts in their fields who investigate key concepts in non-technical language. Chapters feature treatments of specific thinkers as individuals including Voltaire, Rousseau, Descartes and Derrida, but also more general movements and schools of thought from humanism to liberalism, via the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Marxism, and feminism. Furthermore, the influence of gender, race, empire and slavery are investigated to offer a broad and fulfilling account of French thought throughout the ages.

Modern France is an up-to-date and accessible introduction to the nature of French society at the end of the twentieth century. The book examines the transition of France and French life as the nation moves from an industrial to a post-industrial economy, and the cultural and social dislocations that such an evoltuion implies. Sociological concepts and categories of class, race, gender, age and region are discussed as well as how they combine together to produce inequalities and identities. These concepts are then applied to a range of issues such as work, politics, education, health, religion and leisure. Modern France reveals the nature of French society at a critical moment in her evolution and how a member of the European Union reflects distinctiveness and commonality in the development of Europe as a whole.

Reservoirs of men -- Race and the deployment of troupes indigènes -- Hierarchies of rank, hierarchies of race -- Race and language in the army -- Religion and the "problem" of Islam in the French army -- Race, sex, and imperial anxieties -- Between subjects and citizens

Shaping Race Policy investigates one of the most serious policy challenges facing the United States today: the stubborn persistence of racial inequality in the post-civil rights era. Unlike other books on the topic, it is comparative, examining American developments alongside parallel histories of race policy in Great Britain and France. Focusing on on two key policy areas, welfare and employment, the book asks why America has had such uneven success at incorporating African Americans and other minorities into the full benefits of citizenship. Robert Lieberman explores the historical roots of racial incorporation in these policy areas over the course of the twentieth century and explains both the relative success of antidiscrimination policy and the failure of the American welfare state to address racial inequality. He chronicles the rise and resilience of affirmative action, including commentary on the recent University of Michigan affirmative action cases decided by the Supreme Court. He also shows how nominally color-blind policies can have racially biased effects, and challenges the common wisdom that color-blind policies are morally and politically superior and that race-conscious policies are merely second best. Shaping Race Policy has two innovative features that distinguish it from other works in the area. First, it is comparative, examining American developments alongside parallel histories of race policy in Great Britain and France. Second, its argument merges ideas and institutions, which are usually considered separate and competing factors, into a comprehensive and integrated explanatory approach. The book highlights the importance of two factors--America's distinctive political institutions and the characteristic American tension between race consciousness and color blindness--in accounting for the curious pattern of success and failure in American race policy.

The first comprehensive study in English of the earliest and largest 'Third-World' migration into pre-war Europe. Full attention is given to the relationship between the society of emigration, undermined by colonialism, and processes of ethnic organisation in the metropolitan context. Contemporary anti-Algerian racism is shown to have deep roots in moves by colonial elites to control and police the migrants and to segregate them from contact with Communism, nationalist movements and the French working class.

Once-dominant images of the First World War as a futile contest fought by innocent soldiers and wasteful generals have given way to more sophisticated scholarly analyses. This volume presents some of the most innovative work of this new generation of research on the War to End All Wars. Taking a global and comparative perspective, these essays place the War in a wide global and thematic context, greatly enhancing our understanding of one of the most important and complex events of the 20th Century.