MONDAY NIGHT LECTURE SERIES | MOBILITIES

Éric Fassin
Professor of Sociology, École Normale Supérieure, Paris

Why should the Roma be persecuted today in France? The political explanation under the presidency of François Hollande is no different from that of his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy: their culture is supposed to be the source of the problem. In fact, this is a euphemized justification of policies that racialize the Roma, not despite, but because of the fact that they have become Europeans. They cannot be deported like African migrants; therefore, the goal is to make life unlivable for them—leading to "self-deportation". But treating them with so little humanity implies that they cannot be quite human—unlike "us". This is why this new form of neoliberal governmentality relies on the return of race, whether cultural or biological.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014  |  6 P.M.
DANIEL FAMILY COMMONS  |  USDAN UNIVERSITY CENTER