You may not know what it really means, but you have probably read or heard it before: the word “woke” and its derivatives – such as “wokism” or even “cancel culture” – have come together. makes a place in the French political and media debate. To sum up, when we are “woke”, we are “awake” to the problems of social injustice and discrimination in society. The term comes from African-American slang. In France, it is mostly used pejoratively by the far right, the right, but also part of the LREM majority and the left to caricature feminists, anti-racist or LGBT activists, against police violence …
If the polemics are present, the same cannot be said of the substance: the question of rights, equality and the fight against discrimination seems to be one of the major absent from this presidential pre-campaign. “I believe that we are at a historic moment when the movements and political parties no longer want to move forward on these questions”, deplores Fabienne Messica, co-leader of the “racism and discrimination” working group at the League of Rights. of man. The fault, precisely with the polemics neither diverse nor varied of the last months.
A moment of “closure”
Socialist Party spokesperson Gabrielle Siry – who specifically works on issues of discrimination and published The Republic of Men in 2021 (Bouquins éditions) – confirms: “The left-wing personalities who come to the sets to talk about these subjects are often put on the defensive and must first justify themselves for not being either this or that …” they run the risk of being labeled as “woke” or even “anti-Republican”. “To denounce them in this way is to put them out of the democratic debate”, analyzes the CNRS research director at Cevipof, Réjane Sénac, who clearly notes the “discrediting use” of these words. “It’s a way of creating a diversion, of refusing to see what has been brought to light by the contemporary mobilizations against injustices. “
The five-year term that is ending was indeed largely crossed by the social question and discrimination: #MeToo started at the end of 2017 and caused a new feminist wave to explode in the media and the emergence of a sustained mobilization against gender-based and sexual violence. The anti-racist question has returned to France with a vigor rarely achieved in recent years. That of disability has also arrived on the scene, with the issue of the individualization of allowances… And what were the “yellow vests”, if not a movement for more equality? In Radical and fluid, contemporary mobilizations, published last month by the Presses de Science Po, Réjane Sénac notes that “barriers have been jumped, subjects have been politicized and made visible”. For her, the mood of the last few weeks is a conservative reaction to these movements. “That said a desire for closure, an attempt to put a lid on what has been denounced by these mobilizations, in particular the systemic dimension of inequalities and violence, to preserve the existing order. “
Right at ease to say stop
On the right, precisely, we have a lot of fun. The third debate for the LR investiture in the presidential election, Sunday on CNews and Europe 1, had as a theme “Culture against cancel culture”. And we are very comfortable promising “a break from societal advances”, as Xavier Bertrand put it. “We are not going to let ourselves be carried away by a wave of the far left which arrives from across the Atlantic with the aim of destroying our society,” explains its spokesperson, Valérie Debord. Faced with discrimination, the former member of Lorraine relies on education and on “the current judicial and legislative arsenal, which is sufficient to deal with racism and anti-Semitism. It must be applied ”.
On the left, in such a context, the risk is self-censorship in “the fear of an offensive by the extreme right”, thinks Fabienne Messica of the League of Human Rights. The Europe Ecology-The Greens project for 2022 gives a large place to questions of equality and discrimination. There is even talk of compensation for damages for the years of slavery practiced by France. So many themes not very present in Yannick Jadot’s campaign. The latter even took advantage, in the duel of the ecological primary, of the label of “moderate” against Sandrine Rousseau. She has been described in turn as a “witch” and, of course, a “wokist”, with her platform giving pride of place to issues of equality and oppressions of minorities.
In the Socialist Party, the project hardly speaks of social injustices, except to denounce the pay gap between women and men. Gabrielle Siry, spokesperson for the party, assures that it is only a matter of time, and that the presidential project of Anne Hidalgo will be more complete on the subject. The PS is therefore not tempted to ignore these societal issues which sometimes divide it? ” On the contrary ! But ‘societal’ is a misleading term. What I see is that, on a daily basis, issues of discrimination are social issues (pay inequalities, access to employment, to housing, etc.). Anne Hidalgo is keen to talk about it in this way. “
Youth on the side of the road?
If the subject of social inequalities is not in vogue in the countryside, it should be noted that it does not seem to be a priority for the French either. In October, an Elabe poll indicated that “inequalities and social injustices” were a priority for only 18% of those questioned, behind the other seven themes proposed. Note, however, that it is very different among those under 25: they place the subject of injustices in third position, eight points higher than the rest of the population.
Would the main consequence of the absence of the subject of equality in public debate therefore be to keep young people a little further away from the electoral game? Not so quickly, replies Réjane Sénac: “There is a gap between the conservative framing of the debate and the fact that subjects such as intersectionality or the awareness of being privileged by sex or skin color are more discussed in younger generations. The latter have a more critical and fluid relationship to identities. But we should not idealize youth or hide the fact that there are also ideological differences within them. The researcher also believes that the campaign is still long, and that the subjects on the front page can be brought to diversify. A good part of the left must also greatly hope so.