Diasporas, living memory and the future of democracy
The publication of Cahier du REF n°10 - Fractures françaises, espoirs méditerranéens comes at a time of political turmoil: the rise of the extreme right, the trivialization of racism, and repeated attacks on community life. For several years now, migration and diversity have been used as political weapons to divide, feed fear and divert social anger.
Against this backdrop, REF - Réseau Euromed France - has chosen to give a voice to those who embody a different history: the Mediterranean diasporas.
This collective collection brings together twenty testimonials demonstrating the continuity of mobilizations by immigrants. From the Sonacotra hostels to the workers' strikes of the 1970s, from the 1983 March for Equality to the struggle to regularize the situation of undocumented immigrants, these commitments have left their mark on French social history.
They remind us of a simple but overlooked truth: without the struggles of diasporas, French democracy would not have advanced.
Today, other fronts are taking shape:
- a popular and decolonial feminism, supported by groups such as Lallab and activists in Saint-Denis,
- an ecology inherited from diasporas, based on knowledge transmitted from the shores of the South,
- cultural reappropriations (Amazigh, Franco-Algerian, electronic music in Algeria) that refuse to be erased and reinvent belonging.
These initiatives say one thing: plurality is not a threat, it's an opportunity.
But this heritage is now under threat. Since the "separatism" law of 2021, associations of immigrant origin have suffered budget cuts, abusive controls and even dissolution. ACORT, ATMF and many others are seeing their actions undermined. At the same time, voices in solidarity with Palestine are being criminalized, raided and deprived of funding.
The aim of this strategy is to silence citizen checks and balances. It paves the way for a closed, authoritarian and discriminatory society.
Cahier du REF n°10 is not just a book of memories: it's a manifesto. It proclaims that diversity is richness, that the Mediterranean is a common horizon, and that justice and peace must once again become the bedrock of our Republic.
At a time of pessimism and resignation, this collection is an act of resistance. It invites us to defend what diasporas have always embodied: dignity, equality and solidarity.
Because democracy doesn't stand alone. It must be defended together.
Discover the Cahier: https: //www.euromed-france.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Version-Numerique_Cahiers-du-REF_Diasporasn°10.pdf
Find out more about REF: http: //www.euromed-france.org/
