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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2022

Jean Beaman Open the ORCID record for Jean Beaman [Opens in a new window]  and
Jennifer Fredette Open the ORCID record for Jennifer Fredette [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

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.

Type
Special Issue Articles: Black Lives Matter
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 20 , Issue 4: Special Issue: Black Lives Matter , December 2022 , pp. 1346 - 1361
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

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