Ben Gidley: In 2017, antisemitism and Islamophobia were, along with other racisms, on the rise around the world. In Charlottesville in the United States, far-right militants marched chanting against the world Jewish conspiracy. In Myanmar, Muslims fled for their lives to Bangladesh. In the UK and Europe, these racisms also continue to flourish. But are they connected? In the aftermath of 9/11, controversy has raged about whether Islamophobia is the new antisemitism. Read More …

Wilf Sullivan: The large increase in racist attacks after the UK referendum to leave the European Union in June 2016 brought back into focus the problem of racism in British society. Many people believed that “in your face” racism was a thing of the past. That racism was no longer a major problem. Insofar as it was acknowledged, the popular belief was that racism had become very subtle therefore was harder to tackle. Read More …

Vanessa Codaccioni (original text in French): L’état d’urgence, proclamé par le Président de la République François Hollande dès le soir des attentats du 13 novembre 2015, est une modalité d’exercice du pouvoir qui permet de contrôler une population, un territoire, des idées. Hérité de la guerre d’Algérie, cette « matrice des usages de l’exception » vers laquelle se tournent aujourd’hui les gouvernements français pour renforcer l’appareil antiterroriste, l’état d’urgence a évolué tout au long de ses deux ans d’existence, avant que certains de ses dispositifs, comme les perquisitions administratives, soient intégrés dans le droit commun par le biais d’une loi votée en octobre 2017. Read More …

Vanessa Codaccioni: The state of emergency, proclaimed by the President of the Republic François Hollande on the evening of the attacks of November 13, 2015, is a form of power that allows full control of a population, a territory, ideas. Inherited from the Algerian war of 1954 to 1962, the state of emergency — this ‘matrix of uses of the exception’ towards which French governments are now turning to strengthen their anti-terrorist apparatus– evolved throughout its two years of existence, until some of its devices, such as administrative searches, were integrated into ordinary state law in October 2017. Read More …