The Black Populations of France - by Sylvain Pattieu & Emmanuelle Sibeud & Tyler Stovall (Paperback)

About the Book

This edited collection considers Black peoples and their history in France and the French Empire during the modern era, from the eighteenth century to the present.

Book Synopsis

The Black Populations of France is a study of Black peoples and their history in France and the French Empire during the modern era, from the eighteenth century to the present. The contributors to this collection explore three main axes. The first addresses circulations--the ways Black populations have moved through the spaces of metropolitan France and the empire--and focuses on the actors themselves and the margins of maneuver available to them, particularly as soldiers, sailors, immigrants, or political militants. The second considers legacies and the ways the past has informed the present, addressing themes such as the memory of slavery, the histories of Black women and gender, and the historical influence of African Americans on Blacks in France. The final axis considers racial policy and the ways the state has shaped racial discourses through the interactions between state policies and ideas of race developed by individuals, organizations, and communities. The Black Populations of France makes an important contribution to both modern French history and the history of the global Black diaspora. By putting these histories in dialogue with each other, it underscores the central place of France in world history.

Review Quotes

"This edited volume is an important addition to our knowledge on race, blackness, and Black populations in France as it provides new ways for thinking about the circulation of American and French ideas of blackness and of Black communities."--Jean Beaman, H-France Review

"The broad scope, multidisciplinary sensibility, and archival rigor make The Black Populations of France a treasure-trove of innovative study and historiographic information. The book can be adopted for courses connected to Black Europe, France, colonization and decolonization, overseas territories, race, national identity and citizenship, and more."--Christy L. Pichichero, Journal of Modern History

"A needed expansion and corrective to the history of France, whose long-standing and diverse Black populations remain insufficiently explored. The originality of this book also resides in its geographical reach, as it extends beyond the metropole to a vast overseas territorial divide. . . . At the same time [it elucidates] the temporal fluidity of race and Blackness in these geographies, which contradict and complicate France's cherished ideals of universalism and citizenship."--Trica Keaton, coeditor of Black France / France Noire: The History and Politics of Blackness

About the Author

Sylvain Pattieu is a lecturer in history at University of Paris 8. He is the author of several books written and published in French. Emmanuelle Sibeud is a professor of contemporary history at the University of Paris 8. She is the author of several books written and published in French. Tyler Stovall (1954-2021) was the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University. He was the author of a number of books, including White Freedom: The Racial History of an Idea.