Les non-frères au pays de l'égalité

Does France care more about fraternity than equality?

Despite the Republic's strident claims of being one and indivisible, it has always classified and ranked its citizens since its inception. Who does it recognize as its brethren, and who remains stuck in equality's blind spot? Why does France continue to define itself using the word 'fraternity’, which entails an exclusionary vision of democracy?

Answering these questions means breaking a taboo: but discussing the original sin of our fraternal Republic is necessary to explain the continued existence of inequality today.

Réjane Sénac analyses how the boundaries between brothers and non-brothers — whether the latter are women, non-binary, or non-white — have been repeatedly redrawn instead of disappearing altogether. Although the principle of equality has been unconditionally applied for some, for others, it remains linked to the fulfilment of social and economic performances.