From this point of view, we can detect and analyse modes of circulation and connection, of identification and appropriation, of reinterpretation and even of detachment from political, media and scientific resources and expertise, and can come to terms with a transnational dimension which may be more or less confirmed. It is with this in mind that the papers gathered here aim to analyse the forms, the degrees and the implications of whatever the Black Lives Matter movement has sent out into transnational circulation from the US to the rest of the world, and back again. But such definitions are less well-adapted to the more fluid types of transnationalization which have emerged in recent years.ĥThis observation can open the way to an understanding of the implications of the transnationalization (Siméant 2010) of Black Lives Matter for pre-existing local movements, notably as a consequence of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. They are based on a number of elements, including the nature of collective demands and protests beyond the national borders, the strength of the more or less formal connections between activists which shape the development of the movement, the consistency of the transnational social space in which it evolves, and the collective identity of the persons who claim to be close to the movement whatever their national affiliation (Sapiro et al. First formulated to analyse both the counter-summits and the alter-globalist movements of the 1990s and 2000s (Della Porta & Tarrow 2005), these definitions prove of little use when it comes to analysing the Black Lives Matter movement. A first analysis reveals several elements which characterize Black Lives Matter as a transnational movement: the spread of slogans originating in the US, and linked to BLM, to numerous other countries when there have been simultaneous demonstrations the transnational aspirations of the movement manifested by the support of causes, and meetings with activists, beyond national borders the transnational circulation of performative repertoire of action, such as taking the knee or adopting slogans (‘I can’t breathe’ ‘Black Lives Matter’) the enlistment of non-governmental actors combating racism at the international level.ĤYet such a characterization of Black Lives Matter prompts us to reconsider the classic definitions of transnational movements. Thus in spite of the diversity of realities covered by the expression, Black Lives Matter can initially be perceived as a platform for shared political demands, reaching out beyond national frontiers. In the US and in numerous other countries across the world, demonstrations of support for Black Lives Matter brought together hundreds of thousands of people – numbers all the more impressive since this was in the context of a global pandemic (Kennedy‑MacFoy & Zarkov 2020 Silverstein 2021). ‘Black Lives Matter’ thus unites a complex of realities with both a North American and an international dimension.ģUnder the presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021), however, in an environment undoubtedly hostile to anti-racist movements, protests linked to Black Lives Matter acquired a new momentum as a consequence of the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis on. Finally, the expression embraces the whole range of organizations which lent their support to movements of protest against racism in the 2010s, some fifty of which, all based in the US, have since 2015 been grouped together in the Movement for Black ( ) 1. ‘Black Lives Matter’ also denotes a specific political organization created in 2013 ( ), which supports and initiates projects for racial justice, with the help of its branches in the US and overseas and of kindred organizations. It is first a rallying cry, deployed particularly in street demonstrations and on social media, which voices an antiracial political ideal aiming to assert the value of black lives, to express solidarity with people of African descent, and to condemn the racism to which they are subjected. In January 2017, it (.)ĢThe expression ‘Black Lives Matter’ has several dimensions. 1 M4BL no longer publishes the list of its members and partners on its website.
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