Race, racism, and xenophobic violence at the tips of Africa

Speakers:
Shreya Parikh, Sciences Po-CERI
Suren Pillay, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town

Discussant:
Jeanne Bouyat, Sciences Po-CERI and INP Grenoble

Chair:
Laurent Fourchard, Sciences Po-CERI

Shreya Parikh, in “Ghettos, banlieues, and everything in between: Dis/entangling race and space in Tunisia” looks at the neighborhood of Bhar Lazreg. Located around two kilometers in-land from the sea-facing La Marsa ville, it is often referred to as “quartier des africains” (neighborhood of Africans) or “ghetto” in the Tunisian vernacular – a direct reference to its sub-Saharan migrant population. In contrast, La Marsa ville, part of the larger “banlieue nord” (Northern suburbs) of Greater Tunis that is lined with “expat”-filled cafes and restaurants, is often described as a homogeneously European, and by extension, white space. How is it that these adjacent neighborhoods have come to carry contrasting racial imaginaries? Using ethnographic data collected at the sites (2020-23), supplemented by primary and secondary source historical data on the urbanization of these sites, I will argue that, rather than a case of racial segregation or enclave, the discourses about these sites represent an imprint of historical and contemporary stigma/privilege linked to race, socio-economic class, and land-quality.  
Suren Pillay in “Migrating Violence” will reconsider apartheid from the vantage point of natives, settlers and migrants.

Scientific coordinator: Laurent Fourchard, Sciences Po-CERI