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ABSTRACT
The study of the political activism of black African diasporas in France after the independence era remains a neglected area of research. This paper fills a gap in the literature by exploring the first notable postcolonial protests in the country by sub-Saharan migrants. The struggle of black African workers against their dire housing conditions opened up a ‘cycle of collective action’ that led to the better-known Sonacotra migrant hostels (foyers) rent strike of 1975–1980. Even before the Sonacotra strike, however, black African workers had been able to call on the authorities from both their origin and residence countries and to mobilize transnational networks in order to support their demands. This article provides the first comprehensive historical study of this decisive period. It highlights how ethnic ties are intertwined with political and social ones, focusing on the solidarities that these migrants developed in political networks and in their neighbourhoods.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Jean-Philippe Dedieu http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2313-623X
Notes
1. West African workers were racially categorized as black by social services, employers, and in everyday social interactions in France. Documents consulted for this article show that they also used this category as one of their own means of self-identification.
2. Accueil et Promotion was founded in 1961; AFTAM in 1962; Soundiata in 1963. See ‘Main d’œuvre noire dans la Seine’, Cahiers Nord-Africains, 102, 1964.
3. Note from the Préfecture de Police, July 18, 1964 (APP, GA A7).
4. Note from the Mairie de Saint-Denis, March 26, 1963 (AMSD, 18 ACW 23).
5. Paris Jour, July 24, 1963. Glaes (Citation2007) provides an extensive analysis of this case.
6. La Croix, July 25, 1963.
7. Combat, July 25, 1963.
8. The following is based on the letters kept in AMSD, 18 ACW 23.
9. In 1963, the Sonacotral removed the reference to Algerian workers from its name, becoming the Société Nationale de Construction de Logements pour les Travailleurs (Sonacotra) (Hmed Citation2006, 20).
10. Bernardot (Citation2008, 81) provides the following figures: in 1966, 2% of Sonacotra residents were from sub-Saharan Africa, 77% from North Africa, 12% from France, and 10% of other European origin.
11. See the report by Esperet (Citation1964).
12. See the report by the Préfecture de Paris, Logement collectif à caractère non lucratif des travailleurs à Paris et dans les trois départements limitrophes, 1968 (AN, 20050150/61).
13. Other organizations include the ASSOTRAF and Association des Foyers de la Région Parisienne (AFRP).
14. Note from the Préfecture de Police, April 14, 1965 (APP, GA A7).
15. Note of the Préfecture de Police, July 8, 1969 (APP, GA A7).
16. Note from the Préfecture de Police, July 4, 1967 (APP, GA A7).
17. Demands for spaces of prayer in the foyers or in the workplace did not provide the basis for developing a common political repertoire across North and West Africans, due to the distinct religious styles of their Muslim affiliations, further reinforced by a distinctive treatment by the authorities (Davidson Citation2012).
18. The Maoist ‘Gauche prolétarienne’ is reported to have been particularly active in late 1969, mostly in Ivry but also in the North of Paris (Note, February 13, 1970, APP, GA A7). In addition, the Maoist Union des Communistes de France – Marxiste-Léniniste (UCF-ML) mainly had influence in the Sonacotra foyers (Gordon Citation2012, 196). Révolution Afrique, emanating from the Trotskyist Révolution!, made demands regarding housing conditions and rights in the foyers the core of its activities in France. Local alliances with other organizations, such as MRAP, CIMADE, and established political movements is evidenced in many cases, for example the support given by Parti Socialiste Unifié members to the foyer Bisson in Paris (Gordon Citation2012, 177).
19. The debates on the subject, and the adoption in 1972 of the Marcellin-Fontanet circular, constitute the major turn in a generalized attempt to control migratory flows by the government. These prompted the first mobilizations of ‘undocumented’ migrants (Siméant Citation1998, 180).
20. Note from the Préfecture de la Région Parisienne, April 11, 1972 (ADSD, 1801 W 227).
21. Note on the problems raised by the management of foyers for African workers in the Parisian region, April 1973 (AN, 19870056/1).
22. Letter from the president of ASSOTRAF to the Préfet of Seine-Saint-Denis, March 15, 1972 (ADSD, 1150 W 13).
23. Note from the Renseignements généraux, February 6, 1975 (ADSD, 1801W 226).
24. See Commune: Organe central des comités de locataires, 1, 1971.
25. On the clashes with the police in 1971, see Révolution Afrique, 15, 1976.
26. Leaders were brought to court. See Révolution Afrique, 5, 1973.
27. See the April 1973 note from the Fonds d'Action Sociale (AN 19870056/1). A Révolution Afrique movie Portes ouvertes à Drancy (1972) was shown in many foyers in order to consciously spread the movement (Staal Citation2008).
28. Jenkins (Citation2011, 112–117) provides a detailed account of this case, although without reference to the Monique Hervo Archives deposited at the IHTP, on which the following is based.
29. The administrative services attempted to erode the collective by offering individual relocations to residents who were employed by the municipality of Paris (Monique Hervo Archives, IHTP).
30. Agence France-Presse, January 19, 1974 (Monique Hervo Archives, IHTP).
31. Commune: organe central des comités de locataires, 1, February – March 1971.
32. Minutes of a meeting held at the Léon-Gaumont foyer in Montreuil, November 1974 (Monique Hervo Archives, IHTP).
33. According to a printed leaflet by the Sonacotra (AN, 19870056/12).
34. At the end of 1974, the Sonacotra managed 66,615 beds for migrant workers (Bernardot Citation2008, 95), compared to the figures for the other main management institutions: Association pour le Développement des Foyers du Bâtiment et des Métaux (ADEF) 18,334; AFRP 5,900; AFTAM 9,700; ASSOTRAF 2,230; Soundiata 2,060. See notes for the 1975 multi-annual plan for the rehabilitation of the foyers (AN, 19870056/3).
35. Letter from Sonacotra director Eugène Claudius-Petit to Hervé de Charette, December 1974 (AN, 19870056/7).
36. See the aforementioned Sonacotra leaflet (AN, 19870056/12).