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Taking French Feminism to the Streets

Taking French Feminism to the Streets

Fadela Amara Dn the Rise of Ni Putes Ni Soumises

Edited by Brittany Murray and Diane Perpich

Translated by Brittany Murray and Diane Perpich

Published by: University of Illinois Press

Imprint: University of Illinois Press

184 Pages, 152.00 × 229.00 × 18.00 mm

Hardcover
9780252035487
Published: September 2011

£46.00

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

In 2003, Fadela Amara founded Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS), a French feminist social movement that arose in the banlieues, or impoverished suburbs of Paris. Growing up in the banlieues as a child of Algerian immigrants, Amara became a fierce advocate for the underclass and was later appointed to a post in the French government headed by Nicolas Sarkozy. Led by Amara and devoted to equal rights and opportunities for everyone, NPNS is especially focused on improving conditions for Muslim immigrant women who often suffer from discrimination, violence, and repression.

Providing ample context and explanation of the NPNS movement for the first time for English-language readers, editors and translators Brittany Murray and Diane Perpich include unpublished materials from the movement's formative days when women spoke out about the difficulties and violence faced daily in France's ghettos. A discussion with the movement's founder provides additional information about immigration, discrimination, feminism, the headscarf affair, and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Taking French Feminism to the Streets provides a penetrating analysis of the social, political, and economic conditions in France.

Introduction. Mapping the Terrain: Ni PUtes Ni Soumises in Context 1
Part I. Breaking Ground: The Special Assembly of Women of the Quartiers

Women of the Quartiers: A Call to Action   23
The White Book of the Women of the Quartiers   26
The Manifesto of the Women of the Quartiers   58
The Petition: Ni Putes NI Soumises!   61

Part II. Taking a Stand: Selections from Scum of the Republic by Fadela Amara and Mohammed Abdi

Fadela's Origins   65
Mohammed's Origins   92
Immigration   98
Integration   108
Discrimination   112
Equality   117
Laws of the Projects   122
Social Violence   134
The Future   141

Part III. Reflecting on the Path: Resistance and Controversy

An Interview with Fadela Amara 147

Index 167

Brittany Murray is a Ph.D. student in the department of French and Italian at Northwestern University. She worked alongside Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS) activists while on a Fulbright Fellowship and attended the 2007 World Social Forum in Kenya as an NPNS representative. Diane Perpich is an associate professor of philosophy at Clemson University, the director of the program in women’s studies, and the author of The Ethics of Emmanuel Levinas.

"Murray and Perpich have done valuable work introducing, compiling, and translating documents from Ni Putes Ni Soumises(NPNS), one of the most influential French feminist groups of the last decade. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice "Through this interesting combination of primary and secondary sources, the reader gains a fundamental understanding of NPNS goals and strategies as well as insight into the complex set of values and beliefs held by the group's founders. . . . Provides a treasure trove of material for students of social movements."--H-France Review "This timely book brings to American readers an understanding of a new French feminist movement originating with Muslim women in the ghettos of France. Through translation of primary texts by Fadela Amara and Mohammed Abdi, a working relationship with the organizers of the Ni Putes Ni Soumises movement, and extensive interviews with activists, the editors transform our understanding of the movement."--Margaret A. Simons, editor of Simone de Beauvoir's Wartime Diary