Think ethnic or not
THE CHRONICLE The Favilla
Échos.fr
[07/09/2008] -
"The very serious" French Review of Sociology "has a feature in its latest issue to the theme of ethnic statistics. Is it appropriate to authorize the ethnic identification of individuals subject to statistical surveys? The question is, recently, hotly debated. The merit of this issue is to present without the polemical arguments involved.
The main argument for the establishment of such statistics in France, where they are banned, is the positive outcome of this ancient practice in the United States. Experts believe that knowledge of the reality of ethnic categories of the population, as evidenced by economic indicators, social, cultural, is an essential component of the struggle against the inequalities suffered by those categories. More than one component, the same ethnic statistics are a prerequisite for the implementation of such a policy. The argument is simple and powerful: if we do not know the facts as these categories of people live, it is impossible to define a policy of correcting. A company is "color blind," blind to ethnic differences, can not fight them.
The strongest argument to the contrary is what sociologists call the performative nature of the tool in question, that is to say a tool that the very fact of its existence, helping to create the object it purports to describe. This means that if we question people by classifying them initially in ethnic categories, they will develop an awareness of belonging to these categories. Following its investigation, the statistician may well conclude that "blacks have such an opinion on this subject," but this observation has been influenced from the start by creating the category "black." Without it, individuals might have an opinion totally disconnected from the color of their skin.
risk that conceals the ideological controversial statistic is therefore seriously. It is even more than the French republican model is clearly central to the debate. The whole effort of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution was to free men of their social, corporate, religious, as they were a definitive identity. This release is born the concept of universal, which is recognized as the greatest gift France ever to humanity, subject to the contribution of Kant. Should we throw overboard the concept on the grounds that its effectiveness to produce equality has weakened? Or should we keep the universal category of "poor" knowing that any policy against poverty benefit many "blacks" but without the latter category is explicitly mentioned? The debate continues open but it is far better goes far beyond the statistical issues. "
Source: http://www.lesechos.fr/info/analyses/4750232-penser-ethnique-ou-pas.htm
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