Critical voices in the Flemish minority debate: talk about political awareness

What does it mean to be critical in a large-scale political debate? Flemish intellectuals and activists with a Moroccan background frequently criticize mainstream concepts and ideas circulating in the minority debate. By means of an analysis of interviews, Jan Zienkowski explains how political awareness evolves. He argues that a critical form of political awareness starts with an awareness of the ways in which notions such as 'minority', 'culture' or 'identity' are used in the reproduction of unequal social relationships. In this sense, an awareness about the way language is used - i.e. metalinguistic awareness - is of key importance to an understanding of the way our political awareness and critique develops. Being critical about politics implies being critical about language use. These principles will be exemplified with reference to interviews conducted with intellectuals and activists involved in the Flemish minority debate.