kab

She talks about colonialist principles being applied to Europe in WWII (Césaire), conditional absorption into whiteness, and revisionist histories—in riddling analogies and immoderate irony. She writes more straightforwardly about internalised racism and white men in Europe claiming to stand up for women only when they can pin patriarchal oppression on (and as the exclusive domain of) the other. The last essay tries to tackle the false universality of western science, its linear idea of progress, Cartesian domination, secular individualism, but it's messy.

She is anti-imperialist but homophobic. She thinks feminism is only for white women—she lives in France, so fair enough. And yet Bouteldja may still, regrettably, be one of the better antiracist voices in France (less responsive to being bullied into silence), a country whose social justice discourse is stunted by design as it carries forward its neocolonialist crookery.

Notes: The translator needed an editor. There's no footnote about communautarisme either, which is a euphemism for extremism or non-submission into the invisibilised white French identity. Crystal Marie Fleming:

‘In France, it is typical for minorities trying to organize and fight for their group's interests to be branded communitauriste [sic], a word that translates roughly as “divisive.” People (or organizations) that are labeled [communautariste] are often portrayed as insufficiently French or poorly assimilated. For example, some of the activist groups that emerged in the 2000s to address the discrimination faced by black and brown people in France have been accused of communitarianism—a charge that aims to undermine the legitimacy of antiracist movements in the eyes of the dominant group.'

4.5 C'est toujours une véritable révélation de trouver des livres antiracistes en français. Néanmoins cet ouvrage suit inévitablement la ligne française et les arguments sont parfois présentés sur la pointe des pieds. Il mentionne par exemple l'idée que c'est blessant d'exclure implicitement les blancs des espaces décoloniaux, même lorsque ces espaces se forment en réaction à l'injustice. Mais dans l'ensemble le livre retentit en rendant visible la blanchité. Thuram parle du Code noir, de l'histoire coloniale et des statistiques françaises trouvables ou non, et c'est là La Pensée blanche est un apport estimable à la théorie critique de la race. J'espère que cet œuvre est juste le début.

Engagingly designed with fun project ideas. It ramps up fast in the JavaScript section. Just a note that in the JS for the game, hyphens (minus signs) should be used but en dashes appear in the book. Also for the online resources, whoever named the image files capitalised them instead of using what's referenced in the CSS.

It's a textbook for learning French in Quebec so you'll read about the passé surcomposé for example.

Excellent intermediate grammar notes. I really like how the illustrative sentences stick to the theme of each chapter (language and communication, journalism, entertainment, school, work, economics, accommodation, food, personal care, health, nature, personality, family, law, politics). Plenty of exercises for grammar, reading comprehension, and vocabulary practice. There are incidentally zero images in the book as a note for those who lean towards visual engagement. I appreciated the crispness myself since I find modern textbooks a little too busy/stressful at a glance.

It was published in 1999 so some of the readings could of course be more updated. Some do have staying power though.

3.5 A rare English-to-Cantonese textbook that includes dialogue and vocabulary with Chinese characters. There are unfortunately racist illustrations throughout the book in addition to some backwards conversations. As a language learning resource the vocabulary in use and grammar points are excellent. However, the exercises only in romanised characters are useless. I haven't found a better alternative.

He's got his finger on the wrong pulse, the putrid blob of bro culture and anti-pc dinosaurs. This is a fremdscham-inducing collection of clunky essays that are a long decade old, none of them written specifically for this book. The slivers of interrogation related to the title generally end up stained with an uncle to incels view.

The audience in mind swings back and forth between middle grade and middle aged. It's lean in activism that is specifically not anticapitalist. There is a fair amount that is useful but the moments of cringe are overpowering. A selection:
- ‘Standing up for what I believed was not only the right thing to do, it also was a good marketing decision.'
- Suggests the sensationalism of using pictures of dead children as a positive in the chapter that's functionally about hashtag activism
- Promotes the fallacy of voting with your wallet
- ‘Let's face it: Getting arrested feels crummy, and you have way better things to do than be stuck in jail.'
- Falls prey to the manipulation of bothsidesism in the how to become a politician chapter

I enjoyed reading most about his return visit to Hong Kong, his personal reflections on identity and belonging. Even tempered with self-deprecation, the rest is a little bit too in the belly of noxious standards of success and masculinity. I would be like his father, though, and have an unspoken devotion and respect—explicit expression of love and pride always comes across as too-American obsessions.