DSPO 25A28 - The Postcolonial question in contemporary France. Immigration, Islam, and identity between the pol

Since the 1983's March for equality and against racism (“Marche des Beurs”), up until the current debates on islamist separatism, the French public sphere is struggling with a new intellectual debate, which can be described as “the postcolonial question”. By defining and questioning this phrasing, this lecture will first try to establish a political history of immigration in France, and how it has deeply defined and redefined the definitions of social progress. Through the issues of colonial historiography, but also the evolution in France of generations of immigrants and their political behavior, the rise of islam as both a religious and social phenomenon, have deeply transformed the country : the resurgence of the “Empire” questions the very nature of the “Republic”. Moreover, using diverse approaches in social science, this class aims at explaining this rising issue of identity politics in France which seems to have deeply impacted the political scene. The appearance of this issue is mostly due to economic crises, recent immigration waves and diverse social and political movements which stirred a topical debate on the notion of identity - but also the parallels established with the American debate on race and gender, and how the French university has used (or refused) these categories. Analyzing the evolution of immigration and islam in France, and how the administration has tried to address these stakes, this class will discuss political and religious phenomena which currently are one of the main fault lines within French parties - both within the left and the right, on the question of integration or assimilation, on a liberal or strict vision of laïcité. This teaching will mainly focus on France, in order to understand the consequences of these events as a matter of domestic policy. However, those dynamics will be systematically compared to foreign similar events and replaced in a Euro-Mediterranean context through a comprehensive chronology.

Damien SAVEROT

Séminaire

English

Spring 2022-2023

- Book review or article review, chosen among the provided bibliography (4-7 pages) 60% - Exposé - Oral presentation (among the proposed subjects of each class 30% - In-class participation 10%