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We are looking for contributors for an edited volume which examines race in France and the French colonies. The editors are Jyoti Mohan of the University of Maryland, College Park and Mike Vann of the Sacramento State University. The work will be divided into the following sections:
A. Early conceptions of race within the rubric of Christian explorations, starting as early as the Crusades until the Jesuit missions of the eighteenth century; the changes which came with the Enlightenment and its effort to move away from these Christian theories.
B. The notions of race which accompanied the early colonial efforts of France in India, the Americas, and the Ancien colonies. This section must also include the changes in these early formulations of race during the nineteenth and twentieth century as French colonial aims changed since the historical progression of race in the ancien colonies are often neglected and viewed in terms of snapshots which stand alone. The focus on the ‘change over time’ aspect will serve to demonstrate the cohesive use of race as an artificial category for French colonial aims.
C. Race during the height of French imperial power, particularly in South East Asia and North and West Africa.
D. Finally a section on the twentieth century conceptions of race in France during the era immediately before decolonization as well as the era following. Emphasis should be on the post-1945 creation of a Post-Colonial and Multi-Cultural France as a result of the various intellectual and socio-political movements which forced a change in the categories of race.
In order to distinguish this volume from other edited volumes on race in France this work will follow a disciplinary framework- i.e: how the historical development of race theory and application was so fundamental to the progress of French colonialism. This framework encompasses a wide variety of studies from detailed academic studies on race in France to the actual working of race in colonies. We are particularly interested in articles which deal with the evolution of the conception and practice of race in distinct and specific historical phases, as well as the huge difference in how France treated her colonies in Asia and Africa based on race theory. The editors are very interested in articles which demonstrate the artificial nature of these formulations and categories of race which were based upon and changed with the changing needs of Empire.
If you are interested in contributing to this volume, please contact either:
jmohan@wam.umd.edu
or
mvann@csus.edu
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