Multiracial Identities in Colonial French Africa (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781108489041)

Despite increasingly hardened visions of racial difference in colonial governance in French Africa after World War I, interracial sexual relationships persisted, resulting in the births of thousands of children. These children, mostly born to African women and European men, sparked significant debate in French society about the status of multiracial people, debates historians have termed 'the m騁is problem.' Drawing on extensive archival and oral history research in Gabon, Republic of Congo, Senegal, and France, Rachel Jean-Baptiste investigates the fluctuating identities of m騁is. Crucially, she centres claims by m騁is themselves to access French social and citizenship rights amidst the refusal by fathers to recognize their lineage, and in the context of changing African racial thought and practice. In this original history of race-making, belonging, and rights, Jean-Baptiste demonstrates the diverse ways in which m騁is individuals and collectives carved out visions of racial belonging as children and citizens in Africa, Europe, and internationally.

Author: Rachel Jean-Baptiste
ISBN-10: 1108489044
ISBN-13: 9781108489041
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/08/2023
Pages: 292
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.31lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.75d