Résumé
This article proposes an in-depth look at the notion of ethnicity, using as a starting point its definitions & usage in an international university context & how it has come into play in current issues of recognition & social justice. It explores the negative reception & the adverse connotation of the idea of ethnicity in French social science output & in national civil debates, where ethnicity is interpreted as being a red herring that diverts attention from the real mechanisms of domination at work in different societies, & at the same time as potentially in competition with the system of interpretation & the players involved in this domination. Using the debate over ethnic statistics & discrimination in France as an example, the article considers the possibility of using a policy of recognition which would allow individuals to participate in the construction of collective identities by taking into account their "felt experience." The article shows that if individuals construct the boundaries of their own identity & that of others, their chances of proposing -- or contributing to definitions of these situations are of course relative to the position they occupy in social relationships. Access to the construction of these collective labels could hence constitute a new & contemporary source of social justice. The article concludes by looking at ethnicity as a practical category which can contribute to a theory of action on the role of identity & culture in constructing social relationships. Adapted from the source document.