Sociologies (Feb 2021)
Du multiculturalisme à la Critical Race Theory. Réflexions autour de l’éducation et des processus de déracialisation de l’expérience afro-américaine
Abstract
Following the waves of protest that rocked American society during the 1960s, and in order to address the enduring inequalities, the United States adopted a series of multicultural policies and programs aimed at promoting cultural diversity and greater social justice. From then on, the concept of multiculturalism gained considerable currency in national political discourses, the mainstream media and academic circles, becoming thereby a progressive approach to addressing race-based issues of which the American society had great difficulty grappling with. Despite the hopes multicultural programs raised among racial and ethnic minorities, and even if the figures at the time seemed to reflect a more inclusive welfare state, it appeared, as early as the 1980s, that America had not yet entered into a post-civil rights era. Yet, neo-conservatives undertook to dismantle key social programs related to multiculturalism, and instead subscribed to the ideal of an American society organized solely on the basis of social justice regardless of colour, “race” or ethnic origin. The article primarily examines the theoretical and political issues raised by multiculturalism and Critical Race Theory in the field of education – the first accused of reproducing at another level patterns of racial domination or serving as an instrument for the deracialization of American society, the second, in reaction to the perceived limits of multiculturalism and neoliberal policies, seeks to unveil the institutional and discursive mechanisms that contribute to the perpetuation of racial inequalities.
