New article by Saaz Taher on Quebec Public Discourse on the ‘N-word’ Affair: Between Denunciation of Racial Insult and Defense of Academic Freedoms, for the Canadian Journal of Political Science.

Abstract

Focusing on the Quebec public debate concerning the N-word affair that occurred in 2020 at the University of Ottawa, this article aims to determine how the discourses of racism denial produced by members of dominant groups are maintained within the public space, despite the anti-racist critiques produced by members of dominated groups. By combining critical race theory, the theory of epistemic injustice and ignorance and the speech act theory, this article offers a critical analysis of the Quebec media discourse on the N-word affair. It thus traces the positions denouncing the use of the N-word as a racial insult and a manifestation of systemic racism and those justifying the need to protect academic freedom and freedom of expression in the face of a cancel culture threatening to censor them. The analysis of the Quebec case reveals that the public denial of racism reproduces hermeneutical injustices regarding anti-racist critiques, particularly regarding those expressed by Black communities, and this through a new linguistic mechanism that I call “illocutionary deviations.”