NEGOTIATING RACE, ETHNICITY AND NATION: DIASPORIC MULTICULTURALISM AND THE POLITICS OF LANGUAGE IN MAURITIUS by Eleanor Nicole Thornton A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland February 2017 i Abstract This dissertation examines the tension between diaspora and nativity in the construction of multiculturalism in Mauritius, a plural, postcolonial society that showcases a variety of ethnic groups that are officially recognized in the Constitution, including Mauritians of Hindu, Muslim and Chinese descent. Yet a fourth group—Afro-Mauritians, or Creoles—are singly designated as a residual category unrecognized by the state. Although Creoles represent nearly a third of the population, their decades-long struggle for recognition has been consistently met with resistance. Creoles are also the most impoverished group and are largely marginalized from civil society and the political arena. What explains the lack of recognition of the Creole community in multicultural policy? While scholars of multiculturalism in the West point to the continued ethnonationalism of Western countries as barriers to immigrant incorporation (Modood, 2013; Kymlicka, 1996), scholarship exploring multiculturalism and racial politics in the Americas highlights the relationship between race and ethnicity as two distinct categories that work differently for the populations in which they are ascribed, limiting the benefits of multiculturalism for racialized groups (Paschel, 2013; Wade, 2010; Hattam, 2007; Hooker, 2005). My dissertation builds on these theories by analyzing both national and transnational processes in the formation of multiculturalism—an approach that highlights the role of diasporic politics in the negotiation of national belonging. I employ discourse analysis and process tracing to analyze the relationship between the boundaries of race, ethnicity and the “civic” nation in the construction of language policy. In doing so, I uncover how and why Creole political activists have pushed for the institutionalization of ii the Kreol language—in addition to other policies of recognition—but have been rejected by the government until 2012, unlike the institutionalization of Hindi, Urdu, and other Asian languages after independence. I argue that through the state promotion of languages, non-Creole political actors have created ethnic categories of inclusion while reciprocally denoting racially-excluded others defined by their lack of diasporic cultural value. This process is shaped by what I call “diasporic multiculturalism,” where groups claiming diasporic cultural connections are privileged as being “ethnic” and those with ancestral connections native to the territory (and who can therefore lay territorial counter-claims) are deemed problematic, culturally dis-recognized, and racialized as “the Other.” Frameworks of multiculturalism in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, and Trinidad also illustrate the transnational influence that diasporic communities wield in strengthening and re-configuring national boundaries— rather than subverting them—by constructing new processes of exclusion in the contemporary “post-racial” yet multicultural era. Readers: Erin Chung, Adam Sheingate, Margaret Keck, Pier Larson, Rina Agarwala iii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not be possible without the generous support of many individuals to whom I am forever grateful. Erin Chung, my advisor and mentor, provided me with the perfect balance of demanding expectations and warm compassion, spirited enthusiasm and careful patience, as well as her commitment and time. Her brilliance and humility continues to serve as a model for my scholarly endeavors. Erin, I truly owe you the world. Michael Hanchard and Renee Marlin-Bennett have given me ample wisdom and guidance, and many opportunities for my own intellectual growth that have helped shape the evolution of this project. I am indebted to Pier Larson, Lester Spence, and Adam Sheingate for listening and responding to my ideas and providing invaluable advice throughout the ebbs and flows of my graduate career. I also wish to thank Robert Hill, Margaret Keck, and Nicolas Jabko for sparking many insights through our jovial but deeply intellectual conversations, and Rina Agarwala for her insightful comments on the manuscript. In Mauritius, I thank Jean Yves Violette, Priscilla Legris, Gaëtan Jacquette, Jean Marie Richard, Stéphan Karghoo and Mary Back, who went out of their way to welcome me and my family and offer their assistance in various ways during my fieldwork. Chip Colwell and Soumontha Chanthaphonh provided friendship, camaraderie and many delightful and introspective conversations from which to frame my thoughts and experiences in Mauritius. I also thank the William J. Fulbright Program for providing generous funding for this research. iv Ayako Hiramatsu, Meghan Luhman, Bryan Brentus Carter, Daisy Kim, Sika Koudou, Nicole Kenney and Francine Morris were also a critical network of colleagues whose companionship and emotional support provided me with the verbal sparring I needed to situate my ideas, the collegial breaks I needed to re-energize myself, and the stamina to continue. I am honored to call all of you friends. To Eric Clemons, you have been like the big brother I always wanted, pushing me on when the going got tough. Finally, my family has truly been the rock that I stand on. The legacy of my father, William “Sonny” Thornton, is a source of inspiration that has kept me motivated towards the pleasure of the academic pursuit, rather than its outcome, and focused on living a life of purpose. I also thank my mother, Eleanor Brown Thornton (who I am proud to be named after), for her constant warmth, encouragement, and unrelenting faith in me. Their unconditional love was more important to my success than they will ever know. To my husband, Curtisjames Miller, and my daughters, Quinn and Elise, I dedicate this dissertation to you: CJ, you stood by me steadfastly and never waivered in your support, equally as dedicated to the completion of this project as myself. Elise, my anticipation for your arrival kept me structured and well-paced during those last few months, and Quinn, your smile and laughter kept me grounded in what really mattered, and was the constant source of my strength. v Table of Contents Chapter 1 – Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................... 11 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 18 Findings ............................................................................................................................... 23 Organization of Chapters ................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2 – From Immigrant Incorporation to Diasporic Politics: An Integrative Approach to National Incorporation in Plural Democracies ....................................... 29 Multiculturalism and Immigrant Incorporation in the West ........................................... 31 Multiculturalism and Racial Politics in the Settler Society ............................................... 38 Ethnic Politics and Nation-Building in the Postcolonial Society...................................... 45 Transnationalism, Diaspora, and National Boundaries .................................................... 51 Language Policy and Power in Mauritius ........................................................................... 56 Chapter 3 – Creole Boundary Formation in the Colonial Period ................................ 65 Creoles, Coolies, and Sequential Colonialism .................................................................. 66 Francophonie and the Catholic Church .............................................................................. 76 Kreol and the Creole Community ..................................................................................... 88 Between Race and Culture ................................................................................................. 95 Chapter 4 – The “Native” and the “Foreigner” in Post-Independence Language Policy Discourse ................................................................................................................ 102 The Hierarchy of Languages ............................................................................................. 107 French Domination and the Asian Languages ................................................................ 111 The Birth of Multiculturalism and the Proliferation of Cultural Parastatal Bodies ...... 119 The Emergence of Kreol ................................................................................................... 132 Ethnicity and Nation in Conflict: Multiculturalism versus Mauricianisme ..................... 152 The Hierarchy Reconfigured ............................................................................................ 158 Chapter 5 – The Afro-Creole Identity Movement ...................................................... 164 Africanity and Creole Culture ......................................................................................... 168 “Le Malaise Créole” .........................................................................................................