Description
It is now common-sense to say that race is ‘taboo’ in France, and that French state universalism is ‘race-blind’ or ‘colour-blind’. The denial of racism in France, however, has not been studied through the lens of ignorance studies. Internationally, critical studies of race and racism have been late to take up insights of ignorance studies, and vice-versa. This paper contributes to the budding field of racial ignorance studies with a focus on state-sanctioned practices forgetting, ignoring and obfuscating racism in France.
Through the analysis of the field of French state anti-racism (state-funded anti-racist organisations), this paper will theorise the denial and lack of awareness of race and racism as ’racial ignorance’, or a system in which ignorance about racism is encouraged, making racism ‘unspeakable’ to white majorities. This case study will expand and deepen discussions about the practices of ignorance involved in maintaining the racial status quo through an emphasis on institutional work.
This paper will outline a theoretical framework for racial ignorance to be analysed through an emphasis on institutional work. This discussion expands existing sociological research on racial ignorance, necessary to understand its specificity in the French national context, as well as to contribute to comparative debates on the continuities and local variations of global white supremacy and global white ignorance.
