Project description
Contemporary racial dynamics in the Maghreb
In the Maghreb, rising ethno-nationalism exposes persistent racial tensions. The region offers a distinctive lens on how racialisation operates at the intersection of post-colonial statehood and the enduring legacy of slavery. In this context, the ERC-funded CHRoMa project aims to explore lexicons, grammars, and genealogies of race in the Maghreb. It will merge critical race theories with anthropological insights and historical literature, focusing on racial identities within specific cultural contexts. CHRoMa’s focus is on hierarchies and resistance movements across Maghrebi societies, moving beyond the Black/White dichotomy and promoting a Maghreb-centred approach to racialisation. It will study the legacy of slavery, meanings of whiteness, internal divisions among the Amazigh, racialisation of sub-Saharan migrants and anti-racism movements.
Objective
In the Maghreb, raising ethno-nationalism excludes Blackness from the national body. These racial tensions build on a long history of social differentiation that political, public, and academic discourses tend to reduce to a Black/white dichotomy. CHRoMa explores these current dynamics in light of earlier histories of racial differentiation. By addressing Maghrebi lexicons, grammars, and genealogies of race, the project cross-fertilises three disciplinary fields: Critical Race Theories and Methodologies, recent anthropological reflections on race, and history literature on race in the Maghreb. The objective is to study today’s Maghrebi patterns of racialisation through a bottom-up approach that grounds the understandings of racial identities within specific cultural, social, political, and religious contexts. An innovative method that starts from people’s lived experiences will prevent an essentialised and a priori reading of racial identities. On a broader comparative level, the project considers racialised hierarchies and political and personal spaces of resistance to racial discrimination across Maghrebi geographies, histories, and societies. Three are the ground-breaking shifts 1) to develop an analytical approach that combines nuances of colour with other discriminatory factors, thus moving beyond the Black/White dichotomy 2) to promote a Maghreb-centred approach to the study of processes of racialisation 3) to strengthen the emergent field of Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) Critical Race Studies. The Maghreb is a privileged standpoint to narrate patterns of racialisation outside dominant Western thinking, as it is both a “post-colonial” and a “post-slavery” context. Case studies comprise the legacies of racialised slavery, the meanings of whiteness, racialised internal divisions within the “white” Amazigh population, the racialisation of Sub-Saharan migrants, and the new categories crafted by anti-racist activism.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20126 Milano
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.