State racism, authoritarian offensive, trivialization of far-right ideas, interview with Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison

State racism, authoritarian offensive, trivialization of far-right ideas, interview with Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison

True modern-day witchcraft trials, trials of communitarianism and separatism have been hitting the French academic sphere hard from all sides for several years, casting anathema on those who study systemic discrimination in order to better disqualify the fruit of their research.

Faced with such a witch hunt, Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, political scientist and lecturer at the University of Evry-Val d’Essonne, has decided to use his pen as his best weapon to counteract its perverse and deleterious effects. He provides his finest, most well-supported response in the pages of his latest work: ” State Racisms, Racist States: A Brief History» (Amsterdam editions).

On the occasion of the publication of his book which, among other things, traces the genesis of the two concepts of State Racism and the racist State, and while France is going through times of great political instability, a source of concern, this specialist in the colonial state and citizenship issues is the guest of Esprit d’Actu.

“State racisms, racist states: a brief history” (Amsterdam editions).

Part of the interview transcript

Thank you, Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, for accepting our invitation. You are a political scientist, author of several books on the colonial effect. You are also the author of this book published in early 2024, entitled “State Racism, Racist States in the Plural: A Brief History”, published by Amsterdam Editions.

The first question concerns the legislative elections. How do you explain the recent electoral and political successes of the National Rally, as well as the trivialization of their ideas in the public debate?

There are cyclical elements that have come to a head in recent years, but I believe that we cannot interpret what remains, despite the results, a still significant progression of the National Rally, in terms of votes, deputies, cultural, political and media influence. It is the consequence of a battle led by the National Front first, then by the National Rally for a very long time.

On these privileged themes, such as the question of immigration, linked of course to that of security, to which Islam has been added, and more recently a perfectly assumed Islamophobia, Muslims being considered as representing an existential threat to the Republic, its institutions, and even its territorial unity.

What is very worrying is that on a number of these issues, on the issue of Islam, provisions concerning immigrants and asylum seekers, as well as on the issue of security, the National Rally has managed to convince part of the government formations, in particular the Republicans, but also the presidential party. A very significant example is the project to challenge the right of the soil in Mayotte, which is absolutely unprecedented, supported by Emmanuel Macron and this government, and immediately approved by the National Rally and the Republicans. They want not only the repeal of the right of the soil in Mayotte, but also the extension of this reform to mainland France. In other words, we are not only faced with the significant rise of a far-right party, but also an unprecedented extreme shift to the right of the government parties.

Before analyzing the concept of state racism, you speak in your book of an authoritarian offensive, particularly against researchers and activists who denounce state racism. They are immediately disqualified, accused of communitarianism, separatism, and of wanting to undermine national unity.

This is also a political development. I have been a university teacher and researcher for a very long time, and I had never been confronted with this until now. When he reacted in a very demagogic and polemical way, Jean-Michel Blanquer, after the assassination of Samuel Paty, directly attacked two institutions: the university and the CNRS, accusing them of decolonial propaganda, or of wokism. The former Minister of Education, Dominique Vidal, had wanted to launch an investigation and recalled the sinisterly exemplary case of a CNRS researcher, François Burgat, today summoned for apology for terrorism. In recent years, we have witnessed a spectacular development, not only against teachers and researchers, but also against all those who, particularly after October 7, have demonstrated their solidarity with Palestine. France is one of the EU states that has most banned and repressed demonstrations of support for the Palestinians.

On the concept of state racism, you recall in your book that Michel Foucault was one of the first to coin this category in 1976.

This is strange, because we tend to believe that state racism is a relatively recent, American invention, forged by African-American activists. This allows us to disqualify this category by presenting it as foreign, as if the validity of a concept were linked to its nationality, which is an intellectual absurdity. The concept of state racism was actually forged by Michel Foucault in a famous lecture entitled “We must defend society”, which he gave at the Collège de France. At the time, this lecture did not provoke any reaction from governments and ministers in place.

Foucault explains the important changes taking place in Europe and in France, with the advent of biopolitics, a policy that significantly takes charge of the biological life of populations. In this context, a state racism emerges that is articulated with the hygienist state, where the state ensures the health security of populations on its territory, leading to discriminatory provisions, sometimes against racialized populations in the colonies, but also populations such as the Roma and travelers on the national territory.

The concept of state racism is often misunderstood. It is important to distinguish between state racism and the racist state. Foucault distinguishes between state racism, which is compatible with democratic institutions, and the racist state, which is structured on hierarchical representations of humanity, depriving racialized minorities of most democratic rights. Examples are South Africa under apartheid and the United States until 1967.

Finally, is the concept of state racism relevant for analyzing the situation of minorities in France today?

Yes, to account for a state-sponsored Romanophobia that began on July 16, 1912 and lasted until 2017, and for racial profiling. The French state has been condemned twice for these practices, in 2016 and 2021, showing a persistence of discriminatory and racist public policies.

Thank you, Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison. I recall the title of your work: “State Racism, Racist States”, a brief history, published by Amsterdam.