The making of identities
The political framework for Caribbean minorities in Paris and New York
par Audrey CELESTINE
Summary
The mobilisation of minorities is often discussed in public debate in terms of the "identity drift" and "communitarianism" that threaten the French model of citizenship. However, few studies take an in-depth look at the players involved, their dynamics and their history. In this book, Audrey Célestine sets out to get to the heart of the cultural and political identity of two social groups: the West Indians in France and the Puerto Ricans in the United States. The comparative dimension of this study revisits the traditional opposition between a 'universalist' French model and a 'communitarian' American model.
By comparing two post-colonial trajectories in a novel way, this book shows that the processes of identity construction are closely linked to the management of ethnic minorities by the public authorities, and are rooted in collective mobilisations adapted to the host context. In proposing a comparative sociology of identity politics, Audrey Célestine recalls the long history and successive transformation logics of these ethnic identities up to the present day.
Author
Audrey Célestine is a political scientist, lecturer and researcher at the University of Lille (CERAPS laboratory) and junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France. For several years she has been working on the State in overseas France and racial issues in France and the United States. She is also the author of the book A French family published by Éditions Textuel in May 2018.
The photographer David Damoison works mainly on the Caribbean and Africa. The photographic work included in this book is the result of a project focusing on people from the French West Indies living in mainland France, and questions Creole identities.
Contents
Introduction. From the South Bronx to the Jardins de l'Élysée
Chapter 1. Caribbean and Puerto Rican issues in the space of minority mobilisations
Puerto Rican protests in New York and West Indian protests in Paris
A long-standing association presence for Puerto Ricans
The heterogeneous nature of Antillean associations in France
Studying the context in which collective action emerges
Puerto Rican mobilisations: between the civil rights movement and the cultural shift
Chapter 2. The context in which West Indian and Puerto Rican migrant-citizens are received
Host government policy
Public opinion on migration
Chapter 3. The institutional construction of collective identities
The process of categorisation: shaping the "Puerto Rican" group
The creation of "Originaires d'Outre-Mer" in France
Associative work to define oneself and others
Collective identity: a homogenising dialectical interaction
Culture as a political resource
Chapter 4: Ethnic mobilisation and the emergence of specific causes
Identify specific causes
Staging emotions through the construction of public scandals
Chapter 5. Beyond successes and failures: from mobilisation to institutionalisation
Specific discrimination": successful implementation of a mobilisation issue
The changing dynamics and logic of action of Puerto Rican collectives
Integrating the workings of local democracy: a mixed record?
Chapter 6. Internal struggles, power relations and redefinitions of identity within mobilised groups
Beyond organisational charts: the practical workings of the non-profits and associations
Organisational effects and power relations in West Indian associations
A more restrictive legal framework in the United States
Agreement and disagreement on the presentation of the group
Chapter 7. Getting involved. Staying involved: studying the dynamics of entering and staying involved in mobilisations
Involvement in West Indian associations: between 'republican values' and the desire to elevate the group
Identification and co-option at the heart of commitment in Puerto Rican organisations
Staying engaged: what organisations do to people
Conclusion
Reflective epilogue. The little things that make up identity
Reviews and speeches
Politix, 2020, n°131, Myrtille Ferné, p. 168-170.
"Using the tools of the sociology of social movements, Audrey Célestine takes a fresh look at the ways in which people from the West Indies exist in mainland France, linking them with Puerto Ricans in the United States. Contrary to the cliché of apathy often associated with these populations, it is through action and their mobilisations that the author reveals the social and political logics of the construction of collective identities.
[...]
A. Célestine uses ethnographic material with finesse, reconstructing reflective words and individual trajectories, and offering the reader a plunge into the heart of the individual logic of commitment. By getting up close and personal with the people involved in voluntary organisations, we get a clear picture of the diversity of trajectories and interests, which are sometimes divergent and the cause of friction. These internal contradictions sometimes lead to the exclusion of certain members and the enhancement of others, creating internal boundaries that are just as much a part of the negotiation of collective identities".
French Journal of American Studies 2020/2, n° 163.
History @ Politics, 2019, November, Sylvain Mary.
"Audrey Célestine's book is an essential contribution to the theme of the political construction of identities, seen here through the prism of the mobilisation of 'internal migrant' minorities from former colonies. Her thinking runs counter to the way these issues are often used to denounce communitarianism in France. Finally, the book includes a gallery of beautiful photographs by David Damoison, giving a face to the different generations of West Indians that the associations studied in this book aim to represent.
Éco d'ici Éco d'ailleurs" programme, RFI12 June 2020, hosted by Jean-Pierre Boris: "The economic and social roots of black American anger with Audrey Célestine and Patrick Bolton.
Karthala's snacks #8, 9 February 2019 "The making of identities. Meeting with Audrey CélestineKarthala bookshop.
Audrey Célestine, Abdellali Hajjat and Lionel Zevounou, February 2019, " The role of 'minority' intellectuals, academics and minority spokespersons ", The movement of ideas and struggles.
Audrey Célestine, 2008, " The institutionalised 'voice': a comparative approach to the mobilisation of migrant citizens in France and the United States ", Political reasonsNo. 29, pp. 119-131.
France Culture, "Social struggles: on the road to revolution" series, episode 2/4: " Gender, race and class: paths to convergence ", with Audrey Célestine, Elsa Dorlin and Pinar Sélek, 17 April 2018.
"African-Americans subjected to police violence, homosexuals and lesbians. queers stigmatised, women who are victims of sexual violence... So many different groups, so many different demands that could be brought together to fight against transversal domination, but how can this convergence be achieved?
France Inter / IUF - University Institute of France2021, Podcasts Les Savanturiers, " The day : Audrey Célestine "December.