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Discreet Mobilizations Against Discrimination: Informal Participation in the French Suburbs

Discreet Mobilizations Against Discrimination: Informal Participation in the French Suburbs While disadvantaged neighborhoods are often seen as “political deserts,” discreet mobilizations of young people rooted in everyday practices can be observed on the issue of discrimination. Within small groups of loosely collaborating individuals, they develop a mix of sociability, mutual aid to “get by in life,” and awareness raising on social and racial inequalities. Observing these kinds of informal participation practices gives us information on the repertoires of contention of the powerless. The ethnography of an association named Zonzon 93, founded by racialized young people in Villepinte, in the far suburbs of Paris, contributes to the understanding of informal participation in a French context which restrains the politicization process on discrimination. These young people sometimes organize visible collective activities, but their mobilizations remain discreet as they do not display a militant message and articulate small acts embedded in daily life and public spaces, very cautiously. Contrasting with activism, the political dimension is implicit in these discreet mobilizations and is built in the process of doing things together, experimenting and sharing with others activities to express a gentle resistance against stigmatization. The power of identification with a leader, the attention given to the personal narrative, and the democratic dimension of “doing things together” in informal practices are the main conditions of emergence of discreet mobilizations. They ultimately appear as a substrate for consciousness of discrimination and could fuel potential social movements. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Politics Culture and Society Springer Journals

Discreet Mobilizations Against Discrimination: Informal Participation in the French Suburbs

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References (47)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022
ISSN
0891-4486
eISSN
1573-3416
DOI
10.1007/s10767-022-09434-x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

While disadvantaged neighborhoods are often seen as “political deserts,” discreet mobilizations of young people rooted in everyday practices can be observed on the issue of discrimination. Within small groups of loosely collaborating individuals, they develop a mix of sociability, mutual aid to “get by in life,” and awareness raising on social and racial inequalities. Observing these kinds of informal participation practices gives us information on the repertoires of contention of the powerless. The ethnography of an association named Zonzon 93, founded by racialized young people in Villepinte, in the far suburbs of Paris, contributes to the understanding of informal participation in a French context which restrains the politicization process on discrimination. These young people sometimes organize visible collective activities, but their mobilizations remain discreet as they do not display a militant message and articulate small acts embedded in daily life and public spaces, very cautiously. Contrasting with activism, the political dimension is implicit in these discreet mobilizations and is built in the process of doing things together, experimenting and sharing with others activities to express a gentle resistance against stigmatization. The power of identification with a leader, the attention given to the personal narrative, and the democratic dimension of “doing things together” in informal practices are the main conditions of emergence of discreet mobilizations. They ultimately appear as a substrate for consciousness of discrimination and could fuel potential social movements.

Journal

International Journal of Politics Culture and Society – Springer Journals

Published: Mar 1, 2023

Keywords: Informal participation; Discrimination; Politicization; Neighborhoods

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