Fighting ethno-racial discrimination in social centers: The emergence of “unlikely” initiatives. The example of Lormont and Vaulx-en-Velin

La Fédération des centres sociaux et socioculturels de France (FCSF) (French Federation of Social and Sociocultural Centers) has been campaigning against racial discrimination for several years. However, the symbolic relegation of these issues in the public arena, the avoidance of political issues within social centers, as well as the lack of political resources of the target groups, all contribute to hindering such initiatives. Drawing on a hybrid methodological approach combining participative research and a retrospective field survey, the analysis of the actions implemented by two social centers reveals certain conditions that allow such unlikely initiatives to emerge and to endure over time by contributing to the politicization of audiences far removed from politics. We first show that the genesis of these collective actions hinges on the involvement of professionals with atypical profiles, as well as on local institutional contexts conducive to commitment to the fight against discrimination, and the participation of researchers supporting the cause. We then show how the form of the “social inquiry” enabled participants to co-construct frameworks of injustice that resonated with their experiences and, by allowing the constitution of an audience, also fostered its politicization.