State racism

State racism

State racism is a concept used by French philosopher Michel Foucault to designate the reappropriation of the historical and political discourse of "race struggle", in the late seventeenth century. It also refers to a type of institutional racism promoted by a government. Examples include Apartheid in South Africa, and racial segregation in the United States, as well as any systemic or community-based racism in local, state or federal law enforcement (see also racial profiling). Another example would be the pro-Bumiputra (literally 'sons of the soil/earth', a term to describe ethnic Malays) policies of the Malaysian government designed to benefit the majority ethnic Malays some would say at the expense of members of the other ethnic communities (e.g. Chinese, Indian and others) in Malaysia.

Foucault's concept

The historico-political discourse analyzed by Foucault in "Society Must Be Defended" (1976-77) considered truth as the fragile product of a historical struggle, first conceptualized under the name of "race struggle" — however, "race"'s meaning was different from today's biological notion, being closer to the sense of "nation" (distinct from nation-states; its signification is here closer to "people"). Boulainvilliers, for example, opposed the aristocracy, who formed, according to him, the foreign Franks, while the Third Estate constituted the indigenous Gallo-Romans.

In Great Britain, this historico-political discourse was used by the bourgeoisie, the people and the aristocracy as a means of struggle against the monarchy - cf. Edward Coke or John Lilburne. In France, Boulainvilliers, Nicolas Fréret, and then Sieyès, Augustin Thierry and Cournot reappropriated this form of discourse. Finally, at the end of the 19th century, this discourse was transformed following two directions: the eugenicist line, which would lead to "state racism", Hitler starting as soon as he took power his program of selection of population — a real biopolitics — with the July 1933 "Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring" and the T-4 Euthanasia Program) which would terminate in the Holocaust; and the Marxist line, which transformed the essentialist notion of "race" into the historical concept of class struggle. The eugenic line tied itself with the nation-state, transforming the discourse of "race struggle", which was an emancipatory tool used against the concept of sovereignty and the person of the king during the Glorious Revolution, into an instrument of extermination at the hands of the state. On the other hand, the Marxist discourse of class struggle renewed the popular "history from below" style of the medieval discourse of "race struggle", which opposed itself to sovereignty. Along with Freud's psychoanalysis, it criticizes the biological and essentialist notion of "race" used by state racism.

See also

*Biopolitics
*Crime of apartheid
*Eugenics
*Institutional Racism
*Ketuanan Melayu
*Olivier LeCour Grandmaison, a French historian who has used the expression to refer to the Third Republic and its colonial empire
*Nazism and race
*Michel Foucault's analysis of the historical and political discourse of "race struggle"
*South Africa under Aparthaid
*Idi Amin
*Papa Doc
*Robert Mugabe

References

*Michel Foucault, "Society must be Defended" ("Il faut défendre la société" - 1976-77, course at the Collège de France)
*Michel Foucault, "The Will To Knowledge" (first volume of "The History of Sexuality").


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Racism in Israel — Israeli protest in Pardes Hana against racism, 2010. The sign reads No to racism . Racism in Israel has been experienced by both Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews. Israel has broad anti discrimination laws, which prohibit discrimination by both… …   Wikipedia

  • Racism — Part of a series on …   Wikipedia

  • Racism in the United States — Part of a series of articles on Racial segregation Segregation in the US Black Codes Jim Cro …   Wikipedia

  • Racism in Portugal — is not widespread and the phenomenon has low visibility. Portugal has been for centuries an ethnic homogeneous country with non significant populations belonging to other races and cultures. An anti discrimination law was published on 28 August… …   Wikipedia

  • Racism in Russia during the 2000s — appears in the form of negative attitudes and actions towards people who are not considered ethnically Russian. This includes antisemitism and a general demeaning attitude to northern indigenous peoples of Russia, as well as hostility towards… …   Wikipedia

  • Racism in sport — is a problem which is manifest around the world. It has led to a wide range of controversial incidents which have been reported in the media.There have been many efforts to eradicate racism from sport, including Football Against Racism in Europe …   Wikipedia

  • Racism in Sudan — is a complex matter due to the racial mixture of various populations. The name Sudan comes from al Sudan or land of the blacks. Sudanese Arabs are of a mixed African and Arab descent, but often identify themselves as Arabs, in culture if not race …   Wikipedia

  • Racism in Asia — BhutanIn 1991 92, Bhutan expelled roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepalis (Lhotshampa), most of whom have been living in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal ever since. Nepali migrants are ethnically Indo Aryans and mainly Hindu. The Bhutanese are of… …   Wikipedia

  • Racism in Europe — The article describes the state of race relations and racism in a Europe. Racism of various forms is found in every country on Earth. [cite web|url = http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engACT400202001|publisher = Amnesty International|title =… …   Wikipedia

  • Racism in Argentina — In Argentina there has been and continues to be discrimination based on ethnic characteristics or national origin. In turn, racial discrimination tends to be closely related to discriminatory behavior for socio economic and political reasons. [… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”