Entangled Histories: The Black movement in Tunisia and the criminalization of racial discrimination through Law 50
*Abstract*
On 9 October 2018, the Assembly of People’s Representatives in Tunisia adopted the Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (popularly known as Loi 50 or Law 50). Starting with journalistic interviews and coverage that followed the passing of the law and through the coverage on application of law in criminal or civil cases, the entangled histories of both – the law and the Black movement – in Tunisia post-2011 continue to be assumed.
In this public talk, Parikh will trace the entangled histories of the Black movement and the making and application of Law 50 until present. She will outline the making of Law 50 as a project that emerges from conversations in anti-racism organizations headed by Black Tunisians. This will be followed by a presentation of key cases that have made use of Law 50 and the challenges that remain in implementing the law. Parikh will end with a reflection on implications of this entanglement in thinking and writing about Blackness in Tunisia.
*Shreya Parikh (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill / CERI-Sciences Po Paris)*
Shreya Parikh is a Dual Ph.D. candidate in sociology at CERI-Sciences Po Paris and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation research focuses on the constructions and contestations of race and racialization in Tunisia through a focus on the experiences of racialization of Black Tunisians and Sub Saharan migrants. More broadly, she is interested in the study of race, religion, migration, and citizenship in West Asia and North Africa region and its diaspora. Her work has been funded by the Global Religion Research Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, and internal grants from her institutions of affiliation. Her research has been published in MERIP’s Middle East Report and IRMC’s Carnet; her op-eds have appeared in Nawaat (Tunisia), The Wire (India), ThePrint (India), and Dawn (Pakistan). Parikh grew up in Ahmedabad in India, and undertook her previous studies at Sciences Po Paris and the American University of Beirut.
Details:
Date: Thursday, 16 June 2022, 4 pm (Tunis time) // 5 pm (CEST)
Dr. Ines Mrad Dali (Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Manouba) will discuss her paper.
Discussants: Shreya Parikh (Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill / CERI-Sciences Po Paris)
The conference will be held in French with the discussion in English and French. It will take place at the MECAM premises, c/o ISEAHT, 27, rue Florian – Borj Zouara (Bab Saadoun), Tunis, as well as Online via zoom:
Link zoom: click here
Meeting-ID: 842 9377 1635
Kenncode: 685064