This thesis is based on fieldwork undertaken in a multi-ethnic indigenous organisation, the Native Federation of Madre de Dios and tributaries (FENAMAD), in the Amazonian region of Madre de Dios in Peru. I explore the question “what is a good leader?” and offer a contribution to the literature on indigenous movements by focusing on the significant role that indigenous communities play in the development of leaders. Alterity is at the heart of the Federation as the leaders, who are elected to represent the communities, have to deal with various “others” on a daily basis, both indigenous and non-indigenous. The main focus is on how alterity is managed and made productive by the leaders. By analysing the instrumental use of the term hermano (brother) in indigenous politics I try to understand the way in which the “outside” is constantly defined and redefined in an attempt to produce a stable “inside” space in which indigenous politics can take place. I look at how the native communities affiliated to the organisation actively work towards establishing leaders who fulfil certain roles and expectations, which may at times be different to those promoted by the state. My ethnography shows that communities expect good leaders to be consecuente (consistent, trustworthy). I look at the process of “becoming a leader” and how the experience of these new leaders is understood as both performative and authentic, as an expression and outward display of their values and identity. By problematising authenticity, I explore how leaders not only tap into indigenous discourses, as performance of an identity for Western audiences, but use strategic markers (such as indigenous dress) and discourse to establish themselves as legitimate representatives in their own communities, as the base from which they draw power. Llegando bien a la comunidad (doing right by your community) is seen to be a motivating factor in a leader’s actions and choices, and this highlights the importance given by leaders to being seen in a good light by their home communities. In analysing the importance of presencia en las comunidades (presence in the communities), I show how this helps to embed leaders in community life, both during their time as leaders and afterwards. I also relate the leadership role to its function in “producing people”, as empowered and able to act. The role of the Federation in the production of knowledge is explored to uncover the links between power and knowledge, whereby knowledge becomes significant for constituting power in leaders and communities. An analysis of the language used during important events such as the triannual congress offers insight into how both leaders and communities are producing each other. It is through language that leaders work to produce a trustworthy, reliable social body, necessary for the continuance of the Federation and for furthering its aims of indigenous autonomy and self-determination.

A la croisée de la sociologie des relations interethniques et des minorités et de la sociologie urbaine, cette thèse étudie dans leurs dimensions sociales et spatiales les recompositions, expansions et contractions des frontières entre groupes placés en situation minoritaire. Elle s’appuie sur les résultats d’une enquête qualitative, ethnographique et comparative menée au sein de trois marchés de la périphérie de Nice où se concentrent des individus minorisés et marginalisés. D’une part, elle analyse les rapports sociaux qui se jouent dans le fonctionnement et l’appropriation de ces espaces urbains marchands par des acteurs en situation minoritaire. Elle montre quels sont les effets concrets de telles appropriations sur le partage de l’espace, leurs relations, mais aussi les liens entre eux et leur environnement. D’autre part, elle décrit les formes d’expression publique des identités telles qu’elles se donnent à voir dans les interactions marchandes et non marchandes en cherchant à comprendre comment ces espaces de commerce orientent la façon dont les relations interethniques s’organisent dans la coprésence. En mettant en évidence l’intersection des différentes formes de domination en actes au sein de ces espaces, la thèse montre ainsi les variations de l’expérience minoritaire. / Combining the sociological study of interethnic relations and minorities and urban sociology, this thesis focuses on the reconfigurations, expansions and contractions of the boundaries between groups placed in a minority situation. This thesis draws on the results of qualitative, ethnographic and comparative investigation carried out in three marketplaces located on the outskirts of Nice where these minority groups and marginalized people are concentrated. First, this thesis studies the social relations at stakes in the functioning and appropriation of these marketplaces by minority groups. It allows to understand how this appropriation appears in the sharing of space, their relation and the links between them and their environment. Secondly, the thesis describes the various forms identities are expressed during market and non-market interactions, trying to understand how these commercial spaces orientate the way interethnic relations are organized in co-presence. By highlighting the intersection of the different forms of domination in action within these spaces, the thesis thus explores the multiplicity of minority experience.

Le point de départ de cette recherche est la montée en puissance d'une lisibilité ethnique (notamment via le culturalisme) de la déviance déclinée en figures de la délinquance et de la vulnérabilité. Dans ce cadre, les éducateurs et les agents de sécurité issus des populations minoritaires apparaissent comme plus à même d'intervenir sur des populations considérées comme à "leur image". J’interroge dans ce travail ce lien supposé entre ethnicité,compétences professionnelles et public cible de l'action.Il s’agit d’une enquête par entretiens auprès d'éducateurs et d'agents de sécurité issus de minorités ethnicisées, auxquelles s'ajoutent des observations prolongées sur certains terrains d’enquête. Dans une visée comparative et à partir des parcours biographiques et des relations professionnelles, je mets en évidence les normes de référence qui sont au coeur de la construction identitaire et de la culture professionnelle de chaque groupe et leur influence sur différents processus ou phénomènes comme : le mode de dénomination du public cible, la naturalisation des compétences, la mobilisation de l'ethnicité dans les interactions ou encore les éventuelles manifestations de résistances à des assignations à des rôles spécifiques. Le groupe professionnel comme monde institutionnel et interactionnel modèle ces processus. Au delà des distinctions, il apparaît que dans les deux cas l'enjeu de l’ethnicité se situe sur le terrain de la légitimité et de l'autorité concurrençant ainsi une légitimité de statut professionnel. / Not communicated

[pt] A pesquisa busca compreender os processos de (re)construção identitária vividos por um grupo de estudantes cabo-verdianos no Rio de Janeiro. Identificados majoritariamente como negros e mulatos pelos brasileiros, esses estudantes vêm de uma sociedade que atribui à mestiçagem a especificidade da identidade nacional. Esse discurso, construído por uma elite que muito se apropriou das idéias de Gilberto Freyre, buscava diferenciar os cabo-verdianos das populações das demais colônias portuguesas na África, garantindo ao ilhéu o posto de segundo colonizador. No Rio de Janeiro, porém, foi possível constatar que a maioria desses jovens construiu um olhar mais crítico em relação à mestiçagem. Esse processo foi acompanhado de uma valorização de uma identidade afro-referenciada, possivelmente por influência do intenso debate sobre a implementação de políticas de identidade no Brasil. Mas as transformações vividas pelos estudantes cabo-verdianos não se limitam à identidade étnica. Provenientes de um país onde há mais habitantes fora do que dentro de seus limites geográficos, estudar no exterior significa para esses jovens não apenas estar em vias de conformar a futura elite intelectual do arquipélago, mas também construir-se como cabo-verdiano, na medida em que a adaptação a outras culturas é percebida como uma especialidade nacional. / [en] The research focuses on the identities (re)construction processes experienced by a group of Cape Verdean students in Rio de Janeiro. Mainly identified by Brazilians as blacks and mulattoes, those students come from a society where miscegenation is seen as a national identity specificity. This speech, constructed by an elite that eagerly adopted Gilberto Freyre`s ideas, intended to differentiate the Cape Verdeans from the populations of the other Portuguese colonies in Africa granting the islanders a second colonizer status. In Rio de Janeiro, however, it was possible to verify that the majority of those youngsters had developed a more critical view regarding the idea of miscegenation. This process occurred simultaneously to the valorization of an afro identity, possibly influenced by the intense debate regarding the implementation of identities politics in Brazil. Nevertheless, the transformations experimented by the Cape Verdean students can not be reduced to the ones regarding the ethnic identity. Coming from a country where there are more inhabitants outside than inside their geographical borders, to study abroad means for those youngsters not only to be in the path to become part of the archipelago`s future intellectual elite, but also to construct themselves as Cape Verdeans, since adaptation to other cultures is perceived as a national specialty.

Inner-state conflicts arising from cultural, ethnic, linguistic and other differences started appearing after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kazakhstan, being one of the main recipients of the Slavic diaspora in Soviet times encountered the problems of interethnic distrust and alienation after 1991. Despite the fact the Kazakhstani government had announced as its main priority the construction of a civic nation and of the feeling of belonging to one state, it strongly supported Kazakh self-consciousness, which led to several consequences, one of which was intensive emigration of the Slavic population. It has resulted in demographic, socio- economic and interethnic tensions. Despite the fact these were studied to some extent, no comprehensive approach has been taken to analyze these issues. Therefore, this research paper aims to answer the question of how the Kazakhstani nation- building policy influenced the relations between Kazakhs and Russians. Given that the instilling of the national idea can be achieved through many institutions this research focuses on the historical narratives in school and university textbooks; administrative regulations and legislative systems, and their implications for each ethnic group; plus their implementation in the symbolic realm of the cities, which...

This thesis embarks on efforts to understand how effective is multiculturalism in addressing ethnic cleavages in post-conflict societies. Kosovo, as a post-socialist and post-war country, is the particular case analyzed in order to understand how multiculturalist policies have in the last fifteen years affected interethnic relations in the country. By embarking on a case study approach, I use two main methods, interviewing and document analysis, as a means of triangulation to reinforce the arguments used in the analysis and interpretation of data. Liberal multiculturalism as elaborated by Kymlicka is the theoretical model which is used continuously to give meaning to the empirical data analyzed. The success of multiculturalism is approached in two respects: first, I look at what went wrong during the implementation of such multicultural policies, namely, the approach of international community in addressing interethnic relations through the introduction of group-rights. Secondly, I look specifically at the elements of liberal multiculturalism and how did they affect interethnic relations for the last fifteen years. The thesis shows a shared blame for the persisting fragility of interethnic relations in Kosovo both to the approach of the international community, as well as to the multiculturalist model itself.

La Malaisie, composée de populations malaises, chinoises et indiennes, est un pays dans lequel la diversité est une donnée fondamentale qui se donne à voir dans différents domaines, et qui se reflète notamment dans sa cuisine. Dans un contexte de catégorisation des identités ethniques par l’état, l’unité et les relations interethniques du pays ont été, tout au long de son histoire, un enjeu crucial, ce qui demeure encore le cas aujourd’hui. Ce mémoire vise, à comprendre les interactions complexes entre les trois principales ethnies du pays et la manière dont les populations affichent leurs identités à travers la sphère culinaire. Pour ce faire, une recherche a été menée au cours de six mois de terrain à Penang, auprès d’une trentaine de répondants issus des trois ethnies concernées. Les résultats de cette recherche proposent une analyse (1) de l’espace public commensal dans le vivre ensemble interethnique de l’île (2) des facteurs créateurs de cohésions ou de dissociations sociales (3) du lien entre l’identité et l’alimentation. Cette recherche permet notamment de comprendre la position dans laquelle se trouvent les minorités du pays, à savoir les Indiens et les Chinois de Malaisie. Enfin, ce mémoire relève de l’anthropologie de l’alimentation et vise à considérer les pratiques alimentaires comme étant intrinsèquement liées à l’identité ethnique. / Malaysia, populated by Malays, Chinese and Indians, is a country where diversity is a fundamental factor, evident in different areas and reflected especially in its cuisine. In the state’s categorization of ethnic identities, unity and interethnic relations in the country have been a crucial issue throughout history and still remain the case today. This research aims to expose the complex interactions between the three main ethnic groups of the country and the way in which people express their identities in the culinary sphere. The data for this research is based on six months of fieldwork conducted in Penang with thirty respondents from all three ethnic groups. The results of this investigation provides an analysis of (1) the public spaces and the interethnic commensality on the island (2) the creative factors contributing to cohesions or social dissociation (3) the relationship between identity and food. This research provides a view of the position of minorities in the country: the Indians and Chinese in Malaysia. Its focalization on the anthropology of food also aims to show that dietary practices are intrinsically linked to ethnic identity.

Pendant longtemps sujette aux influences littéraires empruntées, la littérature mauricienne francophone a mis du temps pour trouver ses marques. Inspirée de la littérature romantique issue de Bernardin de Saint-Pierre avec notamment Paul et Virginie, elle va graduellement se frayer un chemin dans le long parcours – aux sinuosités souvent dangereuses – de son processus de maturation. Par conséquent, l’enfant (re)découvre les potentialités qui sont en lui et fait éclater l’univers d’enfermement qui l’a jusqu’à présent emprisonné. Ne se pliant plus aux exigences des périodes littéraires qui ont marqué l’île - notamment celles coloniale, pré-indépendance et post-indépendance - l’enfant émerge moins en tant que perpétuation du jeu de mimétisme qu’en tant qu’être en devenir. La littérature contemporaine sera un creuset entre métissages et panachages linguistiques comme dans un but de s’éloigner le plus possible de l’authentification de la redite. L’enfant renaît ainsi des cendres de l’univers initial romantique pour atteindre une autonomie réelle tant dans son individualité que dans son rapport avec le monde qui l’entoure. / Long subjected to external literary influences, the Mauritian francophone literature took its time before leaving its own mark. It was inspired by the romantic literature of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, namely with Paul and Virginia, and gradually made its way on the long – and often tortuous – road to maturity. Hence, the child rediscovers the potential within and destroys the shackles of the universe that had so far held him captive. No longer caving into the influences of the island’s various literary eras – namely colonial, pre-independence and post-independence – the child emerges not so much as a continuation of past influences as his own blossoming being. Contemporary literature hence becomes the crucible between linguistic mixes and interbreedings, as if to create the greatest possible gap with the authentification of repetition. Thus, the child is reborn from the ashes of the original romantic universe, and blooms to reach real autonomy in his individuality as well as his relationship with the world around him.

La communauté juive hassidique de Williamsburg a formé progressivement dans l’après-guerre uneenclave religieuse fondamentaliste dans le sud du quartier. Ce projet d’appropriation du territoire aété menacé par la gentrification et le redéveloppement du quartier depuis les années 80. Il s’agitd’abord de montrer les enjeux soulevés par ces transformations et les stratégies mises en place par lesrésidents et les autres acteurs intervenant dans le quartier. Les juifs hassidiques ont eu une positionambivalente puisque les mutations représentaient pour eux aussi bien une contrainte que desopportunités. Les entrepreneurs de la communauté ont investi massivement dans l’immobilier duquartier, capturant une partie de la rente foncière. Dans le même temps, les fidèles peu éduqués etmal intégrés au marché de l’emploi ont peiné à trouver des logements abordables pour héberger leursfamilles nombreuses. Nous verrons ensuite comment cette communauté qui a une attache trèsparticulière au territoire est parvenue à se préserver mieux que les autres enclaves d’immigrés duquartier grâce à des stratégies immobilières et politiques. L’entraide a permis de limiter la montée duprix des loyers et la communauté a construit des milliers de nouveaux logements pour les fidèles surd’anciens terrains industriels grâce aux capitaux de quelques entrepreneurs hassidiques fortunés etd’une petite classe de propriétaires. L’isolement des fidèles et la croissance résidentielle de l’enclaveont été facilités par la très bonne intégration de la communauté à la vie politique municipale. / The Hasidic Jewish community in Williamsburg forms a fundamentalist religious enclave in the southsince the Second World War. Gentrification and redevelopment have been threatening this spatialproject since the 80’s. We will discuss first the issues raised by the recent changes for the localcommunity and the strategies of all the stakeholders involved or affected by those changes. HasidicJews had an ambivalent position and change became an opportunity as much as a pressure for them.Hasidic entrepreneurs have been active in real estate all over the neighborhood and they were able tocollect a rent gap. In the meantime, most members are poor because they lack education and skills.Due to this, they have a very hard time finding affordable housing for their large families. We will thenshow how this community with strong ties to its territory has managed to preserve itself better thanthe other immigrant enclaves in the area, using real estate and political strategies. Solidarity hashelped to maintain fair rent for the neediest and the community has developed thousands of new unitson former industrial lots with the help of wealthy entrepreneurs and a small owner class. The deeppolitical integration of the Hasidic community in the local governance has facilitated their isolation andresidential growth.

Ce travail interroge la nature multidimensionnelle du processus mémoriel qui fait suite au conflit armé interne du Pérou (1980-2000). Il met en évidence la fluidité du statut de victime qui varie selon le contexte social d’énonciation et le type de discours auquel il correspond. Le regard que portent les militants de défense des droits de l’Homme sur les paysans des Andes, principales victimes de la guerre, est confronté aux regards que portent ces derniers sur eux-mêmes et sur leur place dans la société nationale. L’analyse des modalités et des enjeux politiques, sociaux et économiques des commémorations collectives autour de El Ojo que Llora (L’Œil qui pleure), un monument aux morts érigé à Lima puis reproduit dans une communauté paysanne des Andes, constituent un premier axe de ce travail. L’attention portée aux conceptions de la personne amène, dans un second temps, à aborder la complexité des expériences individuelles de la guerre et du rapport au monde des survivants. Le passage de la sphère publique à l’ethnographie de l’entre soi permet de mettre au jour l’importance que jouent, dans la construction mémorielle de ces communautés paysannes de l’Apurímac, les relations quotidiennes entre voisins et celles qui sont nouées avec les proches décédés durant le conflit. L’étiologie de certaines maladies, notamment, constitue un langage alternatif qui permet de parler de la guerre et de ses protagonistes autrement qu’à travers leur évocation explicite. Ainsi, vivants, morts et souffrants apparaissent comme autant de figures structurantes de cette recherche qui oscille entre dits et non-dits. / This work examines the multidimensional nature of the memory process that took place following Peru's internal armed conflict (1980-2000). It highlights the fluidity of the status of victimhood, which varies according to the social context of enunciation and the type of discourse to which it corresponds. The perspective of human right activists regarding Andean peasants, the main victims of the war, is compared with the manners in which these people see themselves and their place in national society. The first axis of this work is an analysis of the modalities and the political, social and economic stakes involved in the collective commemorations around El Ojo que Llora (The Eye that Cries), a monument to the dead erected in Lima, and then reproduced in an Andean peasant community. The attention placed on conceptions of the individual then leads to the second section that addresses the complexity of individual experiences’ of the war and the relationship to the world of those who survived. The shift from the public sphere to an ethnography of people among themselves allows for an emphasis on the important role of everyday relationships between neighbors, and other people linked to those who died during the conflict, in the construction of memory in Apurimac peasant communities. The etiology of some illnesses, noticeably, constitutes an alternative language that allows for talk about the war and its protagonists without explicit reference to them. Thus, the living, the dead and the suffering appear as other structuring figures of this research that shifts between what is said and left unsaid.