by Jacques Rancière, Monthly Review
I'd like to add some reflections on the notion of
"state racism" to our meeting's agenda. These reflections run against a widespread
interpretation of measures that our government has recently taken, from the law
on the veil to the expulsions of the Roma.
This interpretation detects an opportunism that is exploiting racism and
xenophobia for electoral gain. This supposed
critique reinforces the assumption that racism is a popular passion, the
frightened and irrational reaction of retrograde layers of the population, who
can't adapt to the new mobile and cosmopolitan world. The state is accused of failing in its duty
by showing indifference towards these populations. But this accusation only reinforces the
state's position representing itself as the face of rationality vis-à-vis
popular irrationality.
