Postcolonial Challenges to French Legal Culture: Analysis of Activist Discourse Concerning the 2009 General Strikes in Guadeloupe and Martinique

By examining legal consciousness in activist literature produced during the 2009 general strikes in Guadeloupe and Martinique, two departments (and former slave colonies) of France, I demonstrate the existence of a unique legal consciousness that has developed out of local history and a far greater sensitivity to post-colonial struggles than what is found in mainland France. In particular, Liyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon in Guadeloupe focused its attention on the exploitation of Guadeloupians by white “békés,” accusing France of treating the department like a colony and business leaders of trying to reintroduce slavery through low wages. Even the popular protest song “La Gwadloup sé tan nou,” sung at many rallies during the General Strikes, explicitly speaks in terms of “us” and “them,” claiming a local identity and legitimacy while drawing a line between insiders and outsiders.

After reviewing the activist literature, I then discuss how this distinctive attitude toward the law challenges the mainstream legal culture of France, particularly its famous commitment to difference-blindness. Thus, when we speak of the legal culture of France as being profoundly influenced by a certain kind of difference-blind republicanism, we should also consider challenges to this legal culture that are produced by those French citizens outside the “Hexagon” with a distinctive legal consciousness that is keenly attentive to issues of post/colonialism.