Frenchness and the African Diaspora: Identity and Uprising in Contemporary France

In 2005, following the death of two youths of African origin, France erupted in a wave of violent protest. More than 10,000 automobiles were burned or stoned, hundreds of public buildings were vandalized or burned to the ground, and hundreds of people were injured. Charles Tshimanga, Ch. Didier Gondola, Peter J. Bloom, and a group of international scholars seek to understand the causes and consequences of these momentous events, while examining how the concept of Frenchness has been reshaped by the African diaspora in France and the colonial legacy.

Charles Tshimanga is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is author of Youth, Education, and Society in the Congo/Kinshasa, 1890–1960 (in French).

Didier Gondola is Associate Professor of African History and African American Studies at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. He is author of The History of Congo.

Peter J. Bloom is Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is author of French Colonial Documentary: Mythologies of Humanitarianism.