The U.S./France Contrast Frame and Black Lives Matter in France

Bibliographic Data

ID7345389
AuthorsJ Beaman (0000-0002-1645-0968), Jennifer Fredette (0000-0001-6412-5900)
Year2022
Volume20
Issue4
Pages1346-1361
Publication date2022-06-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePerspectives on Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1537-5927 • E-ISSN: 1541-0986
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1537592722001104
OpenAlexW4283318785
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited29

In this article examining Black Lives Matter in France, we consider how French politicians and others in the public sphere use a U.S./France contrast frame to deny or downplay the existence of systemic racism within France. In so doing, they delegitimize as un-French or as too Americanized those French anti-racist activists who claim that racism in France is systemic and who challenge republican difference-blindness. To demonstrate this, we specifically focus on anti-racist activism against police violence and argue that, contrary to accusations by French political leaders, anti-racist activists do not directly impose U.S. Black Lives Matter discourse onto the French context. Rather, they deploy it in conversation with existing and long-standing anti-racist mobilization in France. This comparison between the United States and France also reveals the unique challenges of addressing police violence as a manifestation of racism in France, where anti-racist activists must fight to even name race and racism

Context (archaeology · Conversation · Criminology · Political science · Politics · Public sphere · Racism · Sociology · Canadian Identity and History · Gender Studies · History · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · North African History and Literature