International Conference -University Paris XIII, France -26 and 27 March 2009

Does discrimination shape identity? Politics and minorities in the English speaking area and in France: Rhetoric and reality -
Several discourses on colonial heritage and immigration have recently emerged in the West. The current context is marked by a discourse emphasizing the positive impact of a past many people consider to be traumatic, triumphant, or both at once, and laws have been passed, in France and elsewhere, to create an official version of history. These laws echo political discourses which are meant to reflect the nation’s ideals and the claims of public opinion. For other groups, these laws are oppressive and discriminatory, and they have a negative effect on minority identities. These two approaches may suggest that there is an official national identity on the one hand, while on the other, peripheral identities are in the process of being constructed, and therefore cannot officially and overtly take part in the elaboration of national ideals.The conference will inquire into the nature of identity itself. Is it innate, the result of a social construction, or both? Analyzing these notions may also imply a historical reflection on the role, place, and history of minority groups in France and in the English-speaking world. This analysis has to be addressed in a context marked by discrimination in order to understand if the latter can shape identities, and if so, how. This conference is about the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Canada. It welcomes multidisciplinary contributions from the fields of civilization, history, historiography, sociology, and anthropology.
Vanessa CASTEJON castejon.vanessa@wanadoo.Fr or
Rim LATRACHE rim.latrache@univ-paris13.fr or
Olivette OTELE olivette.otele@googlemail.com
Members of the scientific committee:
Dr Vanessa Castejon (University Paris 13)
Pr. Didier Fassin (University Paris 13)
Dr Rim Latrache (University Paris 13)
Pr. Françoise Lejeune (University Nantes, France)
Pr. Fethi Mansouri (Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia)
Dr Olivette Otele (University Paris 13)
Pr. Claire Parfait (University Paris 13)
Pr. François Poirier (University Paris 13)