Black minds within Belgian (de-)colonisation and discrimination. Burundian, Congolese and Rwandan Cultural elites in Belgium (1945-1975)

Landmeters, Romain [USL-B]

This paper presents my FNRS-FRESH research project. It consists of a prosopographical study of the Burundian, Congolese and Rwandan cultural elites that immigrated to Belgium between 1945 and 1975. The central hypothesis of our study is the following: these cultural elites have presumably been sidelined by Belgian authorities throughout the decolonisation process, especially since they would have been the spearhead of African peoples' right to selfdetermination. In order to assess this hypothesis, we will identify these literate immigrants and trace their journey from the colony to the metropole,based on thanks to the administrative archives of the Foreigners Police. The collective biography methodology will enable us to identify the common characteristics of this social group. We will thereafter highlight, on the one hand, their intellectual activity, in particular through Periodical Studies, and on the other hand, their African and Belgian social networks through Social Networks Analysis. Oral sources and personal archives will document these approaches. Finally, we will examine both the relationship of this social group to the Belgian state in terms of civil rights and its narrative on the "black people condition" in a decolonial and then postcolonial setting.