The eruption of postcolonial studies in the French debate, based on the malaise in city suburbs, has arrived with some misapprehensions. This approach, coming to France from anglophone universities, is sometimes evoqued to denounce France’s slowness to consider postcolonial realities, sometimes rejected as an accusatory confrontation of the past which poses a danger to national cohesion. But rare are those who, in France, are truly familiar with these writings, their origins, and their evolution.

This unique work presents the principal authors, concepts, and problems of postcolonial studies in a contrary, yet objective style. The book critically examines and discusses, in several voices, the pertinance of postcolonial studies for the contemporary French situation.

To think in postcolonial terms doesn’t mean wincing in pain about the past and delving into negative viewpoints. It instead leads us to consider the diversity of French society in relationship and convergence with history. It is an exercise both necessary and urgent.