In the mid-1950s, Hannah Arendt already underlined the existence of 'audible' minorities (new immigrants) as well as of 'visible' minorities (African-Americans) in the USA. In his work Race and Racism (1967), comparing the situation in the USA and in South Africa, Pierre L. van den Berghe made a distinction between the concepts of "race" and "ethnicity'. He contrasted people's "visible", "physical", "innate" or "immutable" characteristics to their purely cultural and/or religious ones, even though he also insisted on the fact that physical distinctions depend on external or internal definitions. In 1988, Milton M. Gordon took up this view while stressing that the physical and cultural differences also rest on the "perception" that individuals have of them.

Today, the terms "physical", "innate", "immutable", are not in use any longer because they suggest a fixed and "objective" difference redolent of racism and xenophobia. However, the concept of "visibility", which rests on the idea of a culturally shaped sensory perception, has become essential in the English speaking area. Not so in France where the usual Republican discourse, which continually emphasises "ethnic-blindness", has not led to more inclusive practices as far as the so called "coloured population" is concerned. It may be necessary to go back to the sources of racial thought, and in particular to Darwinism or to social Darwinism, to understand this difference in approach between these two cultural areas.

Without excluding references to other cultural areas which could be used as counterpoints, this conference will attempt to define what is now meant by "ethnic visibility" in the English speaking area. We will pay particular attention to the links between phenotypes and social construction, to the expressions of identity (gender, religious practice, social class, etc.) as well as to the representations of ethnicity (remembrance, history, museography, stereotypes, ethnic groups categorisation in censuses, media, etc.).

Main fields of research:

1 - Phenotype and social construction
2 - Expressions of identity
3 - Interethnic conflicts
4 - Representations of ethnicity (remembrance, history, media, statistics, stereotypes, etc.)

Proposals for papers should not exceed 500 words, and should be sent together with a short bio-bibliographical note. Both should be addressed either to Lucienne Germain (lucienne.germain@univ-paris-diderot.fr), or to Didier Lassalle (didier.lassalle@wanadoo.fr), or to Michel Prum (prum.michel@wanadoo.fr), before 15 June 2008.

Scientific Committee and Conference Organisation:
Dr. Florence Binard (Denis-Diderot university-Paris 7)
Dr. Bénédicte Deschamps (Denis-Diderot university-Paris 7)
Pr David Fraser (university of Nottingham)
Pr. Lucienne Germain (Denis-Diderot university-Paris 7)
Pr Didier Lassalle (university of Orleans)
Pr. Michel Prum (Denis-Diderot university-Paris 7)