SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Conventional knowledge in France and Germany would suggest that race does not play a significant role in social stratification and has been dealt with by legal prohibitions on discrimination. This Note explores the role of race and antidiscrimination law in France and Germany. In doing so, it highlights the need for racial recognition and challenges dominant ideologies that strategically and systematically write race out of narratives of nationhood. The Note argues that the lack of legal protections for nonwhite people cannot be reconciled with their lived experiences of racism. Anchoring its discussion in the history of colonialism, the Note distills two acts of racial violence, exposing whiteness as an organizing principle of race and racism. Ultimately, the Note argues for the social and legal recognition of race as a meaningful category in France and Germany.