Navigation – Plan du site

AccueilDocumentsCommuniqués de presse2012Feelings of injustice and conspir...

2012
63

Feelings of injustice and conspiracy theory. Representations of adolescents from an African migrant background (Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa) in disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Brussels

Press release

Notes de la rédaction

This is the press release related to the article from Jacinthe Mazzocchetti, published on November 26th 2012. Read the article.

The dynamics of social reproduction, segregation and relegation which exist throughout the poor area of Brussels result in economic and social difficulties which are often brought to light. In particular, they affect the high numbers of young people who live there. The statistics gathered each year by the social barometer survey paint a disturbing picture: 25% of young adults live in a low-income household entitling them to a higher reimbursement rate for healthcare, 18% benefit from welfare or replacement income, and the average unemployment rate of people under age 25 is 31%, but is higher in all of the municipalities in the poor area. Young people in these neighbourhoods are affected most by slow educational progress and add to the 19% of people under age 25 who leave the education system without a secondary school diploma. But the consequences for young people – and in particular those from an immigrant background – are of course not limited to difficulties regarding integration into the labour market: there are repercussions in terms of self-construction and relationship to the world.

Issue no. 63 of Brussels Studies deals with this aspect in particular. The author, anthropologist Jacinthe Mazzocchetti, is a professor at Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and a member of the Centre d’Anthropologie Prospective (LAAP). Based on a field survey among adolescents from an African migrant background (Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa), the author gives priority to the stories told by adolescents about themselves and the world they live in. She also emphasises the difficulties and resources of these young people, their strategies of resistance as well as their interpretations of the obstacles encountered and their attempts to rationalise the discrimination and injustice they experience.

By means of an analysis of these stories, the anthropologist shows that – as well as its effect in terms of social success – discrimination has repercussions on representations of oneself and of the world. The accumulation of experiences of discrimination and xenophobia is interpreted by certain adolescents as being a conspiracy resulting in a reinforcement of ‘them/us’ stratifications and logics of mistrust. These representations contribute to the spirals of failure which these young people are often caught in. They undermine capacities to build oneself and to trust others. They propose an isolated apprehension about the world, where the same violence and injustice is repeated. But this apprehension about the world in terms of a conspiracy theory is also a way to grasp events and make them coherent and acceptable, and therefore to get out of the position of victim by becoming a creator of meaning.

The article helps reveal one of the secondary effects of the shortcomings of public policy in the area of social inclusion and the fight against discrimination: the reinforcement of stereotypical representations of the cultural and social diversity of populations in Brussels. These processes at work in Brussels are not unique; they are part of a more global movement of rejection of part of the population, or at least of some of their supposed cultural traits. The author points out that given the demography of Brussels, it is important to act quickly with respect to socioeconomic discrimination and education and housing policies, as well as to begin in-depth consideration of the possibilities offered to these young people to be Belgian and at the same time have dark skin and/or be Muslims. The challenges must be clear and it must be borne in mind that discrimination is both social and ethnic, with gender-related features as well.

References
Mazzocchetti, JacintheFeelings of injustice and conspiracy theory. Representations of adolescents from an African migrant background (Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa) in disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Brussels”, Brussels Studies [Online], General collection, No 63, November 26th 2012. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1123
Contact
Benjamin Wayens, Senior Editor: bwayens[at]brusselsstudies.be

Rechercher dans OpenEdition Search

Vous allez être redirigé vers OpenEdition Search