1Fabrice Dhume-Sonzogni is a sociologist and professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain and a member of GIRSEF/IACCHOS (Belgium). He is also affiliated with the Institut Convergences Migrations and an associate researcher at URMIS (France). His work, grounded in the sociology of public action, combines scientific production with a commitment to social transformation. His current research focuses on discrimination, racism, social relations, and public actions against discrimination and racism. After exploring these issues in several sectors (notably employment, integration, and police work), he has been focusing on the field of education, and more specifically on schools and universities, since the 2000s.

3The first chapter traces the history of the recognition of discrimination in education, which came late, was marked by interruptions, and was profoundly paradoxical. Although the fight against discrimination in France gained political prominence as early as 1998, the French Ministry of Education remained hesitant for a long time, developing its policy “in three stages, and intermittently” (p. 27). A 2008 circular exemplifies this response: the fight against discrimination only appears in the “ninth position on a list of ten non-hierarchical prescriptions” (p. 29). This institutional distancing is reflected in scientific output. Discrimination in education is “downplayed” (p. 35): certain forms of discrimination are more explicitly recognized, while ethno-racial discrimination remains largely diluted in the broader category of “social inequalities” (p. 39). The hierarchy established between these research topics contributes to the invisibility of certain forms of discrimination, which results is an “unequal consideration of criteria” (p. 32). This, in turn, maintains discrimination in education in the ambiguous position of being both politically sensitive and scientifically under-theorized. Hence this central observation: “The question of discrimination is not new, but it suffers from a problem of status” (p. 47), both within the educational institution and in the analytical frameworks used to analyze it.

4The second chapter highlights the difficulty of conceptualizing discrimination in French schools, since it is still poorly addressed in the social sciences (p. 49). The concept is often limited to individual prejudice or conscious intentions, which masks the structural dimensions that permeate the school institution. In school curricula, discrimination is frequently explained using historical examples of segregationist regimes such as apartheid or American segregation, which tends to distance it from the French context (p. 53). To overcome these ambiguities, Dhume-Sonzogni draws on the anti-discrimination paradigm, combining four dimensions: political philosophy, law, social psychology, and the sociology of social relationships (p. 56). The last dimension situates discrimination within the collective dynamics of domination, while social psychology sheds light on academic expectations and their impact on children (p. 65). By comparing the anti-discrimination paradigm with other paradigms, such as inclusive education or equal opportunity, Dhume-Sonzogni shows that this approach is ideally suited to analyze discrimination in schools as a structural and systemic phenomenon, in that it “places the concrete and material processes of selection, othering, and minoritization at the heart of the matter” (p. 79).

5The third chapter demonstrates how discrimination permeates the entire educational system and is not merely a matter of individual behavior. Unequal treatment is not limited to a specific place or a single aspect; on the contrary, it is widespread and observable within almost all “dimensions of the school organization” (p. 81). It is often visible in daily interactions in the form of “micro-discriminations” (p. 98), notably with respect to language, implicit expectations, or even class organization, and can be identified as early as pre-school (p. 101). Discrimination can also be observed in assessments (p. 102) and guidance, where some students, perceived through ethnic or social assumptions, are more often advised to pursue less prestigious academic tracks. These biases are also gendered, because teachers interact differently depending on the child’s sex, often unconsciously, while believing themselves to be egalitarian (p. 100), which contributes to reproducing lasting academic hierarchies. The sociologist also shows that teachers themselves are ascribed to minority categories and are discriminated against in the recruitment process and when seeking permanent teaching positions, based on multiple implicit interconnected criteria such as sex, origin, or skin color (p. 110-111). Finally, the sexual and social division of labor in the French education system, whether in the hierarchy of subjects taught or the unequal distribution of tasks, confirms that these forms of discrimination are profoundly “structural and institutionalized” (p. 115).

6In the fourth chapter, Dhume-Sonzogni explains that discrimination mechanisms in schools are not imported from outside but are “embedded in the educational system, and for the most part, are institutional” (p. 147). Schools have inherited a mission of social hierarchization, and as such they continue to “produce otherness and educational exclusion (a-scolarité) under the pretext of national ‘integration’” (p. 138). School norms, whether linguistic, cultural, or gender-based, tend to naturalize inequalities, as in the case of “linguicism,” which “immediately disqualifies students with hearing disabilities” (p. 138). Teachers’ social representations reinforce these perceptions: a student from North African origin is expected to cause “discipline problems,” while an Asian student is perceived as “studious” (p. 141). These stereotypes, associated with teachers’ “implicit theories,” shape academic expectations and predictions of success or failure according to students’ social and/or immigrant background. Based on these frames of interpretation, students with a similar school record are guided toward different academic paths depending on their social origin; those from working-class families are more often directed toward vocational training (p. 142). As noted by the researcher, discrimination “is never accidental” (p. 145), it is deeply embedded in the collective dynamics structured by academic power relations, which extend beyond the school walls. Their effects can be found when new teachers are searching for internships and jobs and are blocked by barriers and by “strategies for preserving networks and good relations with employers” (p. 146) adopted by older teachers.

7In the fifth and final chapter, Dhume-Sonzogni examines how discrimination is experienced and the multiple effects it produces. He points out that discrimination is first and foremost a “political wrong” in that it involves both misrecognition of people and groups and a concrete deprivation of rights, understood as collective resources (p. 149). Schools are the main place where these inequalities are reproduced, where minority students “make the experience of being treated more as a problem” than as students in need of support (p. 150). In these situations, discrimination has an ontological dimension, insofar as it affects individuals in what they are and in how they perceive themselves within the academic institution. As a result of these experiences, it has been observed that students internalize and anticipate stigma (p. 170), possibly “lower their ambitions” (p. 172) or, conversely, overinvest in school. These experiences can also produce “alternative identities” (p. 176) constructed from racial ascription experienced in school, often “without much connection or previous knowledge of the ‘culture of origin.’” In extension of these processes, discrimination in school can also serve as a catalyst for different forms of engagement by fueling collective and political activism against injustice, as illustrated by the different local or national groups created by school staff, parents, students, or, more often, former students (p. 177-178). These dynamics thus contribute to erode trust in schools and institutions and carry the risk of “encouraging defiance and a backlash against them” (p. 180).

8Dhume-Sonzogni concludes by showing that the anti-discrimination paradigm shifts the perspective from the inequalities to be corrected in school to the power relations that lie at the foundation of the school system. He maintains a critical distance, in this respect, from approaches that focus purely on redistribution or on identity-based recognition. In his view, anti-discrimination requires a structural transformation of the institution with actions that “ensure that the rights of all social groups are respected, transform school norms, regulate all discriminatory situations, and are implemented in critical pedagogies” (p. 183). By opening up the discussion to educational practices themselves, the researcher demonstrates that merely changing public policy is not sufficient, and that the very heart of education must be addressed.

9From a theoretical perspective, the book goes beyond traditional approaches within the sociology of education. These are re-examined and updated by the contributions of contemporary sociologists working on these issues. Dhume-Sonzogni’s analysis is also enriched by a legal and institutional dimension. He refers to different laws and regulations, including those issued by the French Ministry of Education, that show how a combination of social, political, and legal factors constructs and reproduces discrimination at school.

10Dhume-Sonzogni is currently conducting important fieldwork on racialized school staff and the forms of racism they face. In his book, he accurately documents students’ experiences of discrimination, drawing on numerous published surveys. However, his work could be extended by further experimental action research, namely by implementing the anti-discriminatory paradigm in a panel of pilot schools, thereby combining the production of knowledge with the concrete transformation of institutional practices. Such an approach would offer an opportunity to compare the diversity of regional, social, and institutional contexts, while concretely assessing the effects of this analytical framework on the relationship between educational institutions, staff, and students.

12To further investigate social relations in schools—namely class, gender, ethno-racial, and religious relations, to which validism and ageism could be added—future research could focus on digital issues. Differentiated access to computers, internet connections, or user skills represents a source of material inequality that becomes discrimination when schools implicitly assume that all children possess the same resources. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the extent of these inequalities, which overlap with previously established social factors and reinforce school hierarchies. An exploration of this digital dimension would be helpful to update the anti-discrimination paradigm and apply it to a still poorly explored field. These potential research directions echo the author’s conclusion, where he questions the possibility of applying this analytical and practical framework: “Isn’t this a beautiful and engaging utopia?” (p. 183).

13With Les discriminations scolaires: une mise en perspective des connaissances, Fabrice Dhume-Sonzogni makes a major contribution to the sociology of education. By grounding his analysis in the anti-discrimination paradigm, he shifts the focus: discrimination is no longer described as a series of isolated incidents, but as a core logic that shapes how schools operate. This framework allows the author to intersect different disciplines and provides a multi-dimensional understanding of discrimination.

14The book also stands out for the author’s reflective and committed approach; his goal is to produce knowledge to transform schools. This endeavor requires implicit reflection on his own social position: Dhume-Sonzogni acknowledges that he belongs to the “European, male, white, heterosexual, cisgender, and able-bodied” majority, and this recognition serves as a methodological principle for him. He explains: “My work as a sociologist of discrimination is first and foremost applied to myself, with the aim of overcoming the inability to see and hear minority viewpoints produced by my own socialization in social relations” (p. 61). Far from weakening the analysis, this reflective approach is, on the contrary, a critical strength reflected in its two-fold ambition: to empower the affected individuals and to contribute to a structural transformation of the school system.

15Dhume-Sonzogni’s book does more than simply shed light on a subject that remains under-explored; it opens up a field of study and action for researchers, educators, and public decision-makers. Its strength lies in its ability to combine critical diagnosis with prospects for transformation, offering a valuable resource for rethinking today’s schools.