‘Keeping silent’: the problem of citizenship for Lilian Thuram
2012; Routledge; Volume: 35; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01419870.2012.661871
ISSN1466-4356
Autores Tópico(s)Cultural Identity and Heritage
ResumoAbstract Drawing upon translations of the football player Lilian Thuram's critiques of French racism and immigration, as well as other English language sources on the condition of banlieue life in France, this essay explores the relationship between citizenship and representation. Rather than merely reading Thuram as an athlete, I situate him as a political figure. The essay reads Thuram philosophically: as a figure who is familiar with and thinks the French and European political through its philosophical history. It is argued that Thuram's critiques are inexplicable unless they are understood as a redress to the very philosophical core of European modernity. Instead of presuming an inevitable relationship between citizenship and representation, this essay seeks to understand how representation works in relation to questions of citizenship and the limits of citizenship in contemporary Europe for those who are defined as Berber, black or Arab.
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