‘Legacies of Slavery in the French Republic: Recognition, Reconciliation or Reparation'

Description

This paper will look at the work of different activist groups within the French Republic who have been struggling to achieve full State recognition for France’s historical involvement in the transoceanic trafficking and enslavement of African peoples and their legacies today. I will briefly outline what recognition means from the State’s perspective and how a republican framework places certain strictures around what can and cannot be recognized, notably in terms of the State’s reticence around recognizing the links between slavery in the past and institutional racism today, and longstanding rejection of the need for reparation. I will then provide an overview of the spectrum of different activist organizations operating within the republic, from those that are calling for reconciliation and who reject reparations, to those calling for an end to institutional racism and who highlight the need for reparatory justice. The overall aim of this paper will be to showcase some of the main lines of debate around the memories and legacies of slavery in the French Republic today, while exploring the extent to which ‘reconciliation’ is being used to serve elite interests in contrast to reparations that seek to address ongoing racial inequalities today.

Period	25 Apr 2023
Held at	University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
Degree of Recognition	National