Who sets the terms of the debate? Heterotopic intellectuals and the clash of discourses

In response to Bourdieu and Wacquant, I argue that American hegemony in set ting the terms of debate on ethnicity and racism is nothing new, led in the first half of the century by US heterotopic intellectuals, immigrants, out siders and descendants of slaves. Ironically, in the light of claims made b y the authors, in the post-war era the debate is increasingly dominated by ex-imperial British and French postcolonial thinkers. The authors' disquiet is more explicable, however, if viewed against die background of French re publican discourses that deny the legitimacy of 'difference' in the public sphere. But in the final analysis, terms such as multiculturalism or ethnic ity are not legislated from above but respond to grassroots social movement s, and in France minority groups are presently claiming: a voice and presen ce in the public sphere.