Frenchness and the African Diaspora
Identity and Uprising in Contemporary France

Charles Tshimanga (Edited by), Ch. Didier Gondola (Edited by), Peter J. Bloom (Edited by), Didier Lapeyronnie (Contributions by), Achille Mbembe (Contributions by), Ahmed Boubeker (Contributions by), Frederick A. Cooper (Contributions by), Florence Bernault (Contributions by)

9780253221315

Paperback / softback, published 30 October 2009

352 pages, 1 b&w illus.
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.4 cm, 0.544 kg

"[This] compilation offers a wide perspective on the history and contemporary reality of French immigrant life and the prospects for future race relations in France. . . . [It] will be an important source of information on a pivotal moment in recent French history.Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 2011"—Research in African Literatures
"Essential in order to accurately contextualize the complex reformulation of identities on the European landscape."—Dominic Thomas, author of Black France
"An important contribution to scholarship dealing with contemporary France and post-colonial identities."—Lydie Moudileno, University of Pennsylvania

In 2005, following the death of two youths of African origin, France erupted in a wave of violent protest. More than 10,000 automobiles were burned or stoned, hundreds of public buildings were vandalized or burned to the ground, and hundreds of people were injured. Charles Tshimanga, Didier Gondola, Peter J. Bloom, and a group of international scholars seek to understand the causes and consequences of these momentous events, while examining how the concept of Frenchness has been reshaped by the African diaspora in France and the colonial legacy.

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Frenchness and the African Diaspora
Part 1. Auto da fé: Understanding the 2005 Riots
1. Primitive Rebellion in the French Banlieues: On the Fall 2005 Riots / Didier Lapeyronnie
2. The Republic and Its Beast: On the Riots in the French Banlieues / Achille Mbembe
3. Figures of Multiplicity: Can France Reinvent Its Identity? / Achille Mbembe
4. Outsiders in the French Melting Pot: The Public Construction of Invisibility for Visible Minorities / Ahmed Boubeker
Part 2. Colonization, Citizenship, and Containment
5. From Imperial Inclusion to Republican Exclusion? France's Ambiguous Postwar Trajectory / Frederick Cooper
6. Colonial Syndrome: French Modern and the Deceptions of History / Florence Bernault7. Transient Citizens: The Othering and Indigenization of Blacks and Beurs within the French République / Didier Gondola
8. The Law of February 23, 2005: The Uses Made of the Revival of France's "Colonial Grandeur" / Nicolas Bancel
Part 3. Visions and Tensions of Frenchness
9. A Conservative Revolution within Secularism: The Ideological Premises and Social Effects of the March 15, 2004, "Anti-Headscarf" Law / Pierre Tévanian
10. Zidane: Portrait of the Artist as Political Avatar / Nacira Guénif-Souilamas
11. The State of French Cultural Exceptionalism: The 2005 Uprisings and the Politics of Visibility / Peter J. Bloom
12. Let the Music Play: The African Diaspora, Popular Culture, and National Identity in Contemporary France / Charles Tshimanga
Appendix 1A Call to Action: "We Are the Natives of the Republic!"
Glossary
Bibliography
List of Contributors
Index