The weight of France's colonial past on immigration policy

Citizenship and Belonging in France and North America Multicultural perspectives on political, cultural and artistic representations of immigration , 2020

This chapter explores the relationship between migration, integration, and multiculturalism in 21st century France. I make two arguments. The first is that migration policies and practices do not reflect a monolithic, historically transcendent ‘French model’. Rather migration policies are historically dynamic, shaped inter alia by nativism and especially the influence of right wing political parties, concerns about ‘terrorism’, but also European laws and policies, French juridical constraints, and government decisions concerning the ‘needs’ of labor markets. Second, in terms of integration, I argue that beyond the public philosophies of laïcité that are equally associated with a ‘French model’ of integration, lies a more local or urban practice of de facto multiculturalism, which calls into question the methodological nationalism of most discussions of integration in France.

2015

This article was written thirty years before the 2015 Islamist attacks in France. In the mid-1980s, France asks - already - on its immigration and integration policy; France asked about his nationality code; France modifies its law to facilitate the return of illegal immigrants; she asks how successfully integrate with the growing weight of Islam. After analyzing data on immigration in France, this paper proposes three scenarios. [Cet article a été écrit trente ans avant les attentats islamistes de 2015 en France. Au milieu des années 1980, la France s’interroge – déjà - sur sa politique d’immigration et d’intégration ; elle s’interroge sur son code de la nationalité ; elle modifie sa loi pour faciliter le renvoi des immigrants en situation irrégulière ; elle se demande comment réussir l’intégration avec le poids croissant de l’Islam. Après avoir analysé les données sur l’immigration en France, cet article propose trois scénarios.]

Migration studies have long been characterized as an illegitimate field of research in the French social sciences. This results from the strong influence of the so-called 'republican' ideology on social sciences, the constant politicization of the subject in the public arena, the maintenance of a number of taboos revolving around the colonial experience, and a history of the concepts (race, ethnicity, minority) that makes their potential use in scientific analysis controversial. This difficulty of reflecting upon the ethnic fact or racial relations contributed to the implementation of a normative framework, which until recently gave priority to the analysis of integration, leaving the content of 'racial and ethnic studies' little explored in France. This article offers a historical perspective on the way knowledge has been produced in this field. It highlights the 'doxa' of the French integration model in social sciences, elaborating on the controversy over the production and use of ethnic categories in statistics, the various taboos revolving around the role of ethnicity in politics, the discussions launched by the emergence of a post-colonial question and the transition from an analysis of racism to the understanding of a system of discriminations.

Journal of Law and Courts, 2014

The emergence of constitutional review in France has attracted substantial attention from scholars of public law. Yet little has been written about the political implications of the expansion of rights-based review on the part of France’s highest administrative jurisdiction, the Conseil d’Etat. The argument is made in this article that repeat litigation by French lawyers defending the cause of immigrants is an important site for observing the symbolic power of legal forms. The analysis focuses on cases challenging immigration-related administrative regulations and shows how the process of repeatedly adjudicating these issues has focused attention away from litigants and their claims at the same time that it has reinforced the centrality of the Conseil d’Etat and its formalist jurisprudence in administrative governance. This detailed examination of the practical operation of France’s highest administrative jurisdiction leads to the surprising conclusion that this distinctly nonadversarial form of adjudication has contributed over the long term to institutionalizing a juridification of immigration-related administrative policy making.

2005

Historical Reflections/Reflexions historiques, 2010

By the early 1960s, an increasing number of Africans migrated to France from their former colonies in West Africa. Most were men hoping to gain employment in several diff erent industries. Their settlement in Paris and other cities signaled the start of "post-colonial" African immigration to France. While scholars have analyzed several facets of this migration, they often overlook the ways in which France's role as a colonial power in West Africa impacted the reception of these immigrants after 1960, where surveillance played a critical role. Colonial regimes policed and monitored the activities of indigenous populations and anyone else they deemed problematic. The desire to understand newly arriving immigrant groups and suspicion of foreign-born populations intersected with the state's capacity to monitor certain groups in order to regulate and control them. While not physically violent, these surveillance practices refl ected the role that symbolic violence played in the French government's approach to this post-colonial immigrant population.

As refugee crises have emerged and immigration has increased in many regions of the world, several Western countries have become highly nationalistic, with debates surrounding border control and citizenship often dominating political conversation. But it's not just newcomers who have raised these discussions. Based on her forthcoming book, this piece by Jean Beaman shows how second-generation immigrants from North Africa in France, who are legally French citizens, get treated as outsiders and denied "cultural citizenship" because of their backgrounds. At the end of my interview with Djamila in her office in the 8 th arrondissement near Gare Saint-Lazare in central Paris, the 49-year-old of Algerian origin sighed and said: "I think we see racism more and more these days in France. When I was younger, I remember some experiences. It all seemed normal… I didn't experience it as much as other people. I remember often hearing "Return to your country." So, people thought that. But you know my country, it is here, so how do you want me to return to my country? I heard that. But today [I hear that] even more… I had thought that as I grew older, that would change, that it would subside, that it would fade. We would no longer mark differences, or distinguish between people. And I see that we do differentiate between people. We do it more and more. And I regret that, I find that sad."

The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 1987

The place of immigrants in the French system of criminal justice can only be understood in the context of the history of postwar France. Since 1956, developments in the prison population and the f l u x of immigration have been dominated by the 'Algerian problem'. After the Evian agreements were signed in 1962 there was a period of ffree' and massive, immigration until 1974. Since then the volume of legislation rivals and probably surpasses the British experience. Together they are the formal expression of the near illegality of being foreign. The day-today reality of this tenuous citizenship status is documented in the second half ofthe paper. Many of the police in the 1960s also belonged to the Service d'Action Civique, a Gaullisl strong-arm association; and, since 1974, an increasing proportion of immigrants are being imprisoned. Second generation immigrants also suffer discrimination wherever there is discretion. Overall, the French tradition of bein<{ the home of political refugees looks very tarn ished.

Our research on the integration process is based on two important aspects underlined by Mohand Khellil in the integration process: the legal aspect and the aspect based on citizenship (Khellil, 2005, p. 24). Regarding the legal aspect of integration we can say that this refers to the status of an immigrant arrived in a different country. This aspect includes all the legal issues that an immigrant should face with, starting from the migration regime to which he is submitted, up to the acquisition of nationality considered to be the highest legal level of integration. In view of the importance of legal aspect, our first approach-at the macro level-concerning the immigration process, will focus on the analysis of laws which include the immigration process in France. Through this approach we will realize, at the same time, a description of what Massey considers to be the measures that should be taken when receiving an immigrant (Massey, Arango, Hugo, Kouaouci, Pellegrino, & Taylor, 1993...

International Migration, 2006

In October 2005, the predominately Arab-immigrant suburbs of Paris, Lyon, Lille and other French cities erupted in riots by socially alienated teenagers, many of them second- or third-generation immigrants. For many French observers, it was a painful reminder that France's immigration policy had, quite bluntly, failed. The grand French ideal of égalité, the equality of all citizens of the Republic, itself a by-product of France's colonial past, demonstrated its incompatibility with twenty-first century reality.The French immigration experience is markedly different than those of other European countries, as France's is tainted by colonial history, republican idealism, a rigidly centralized government structure, and deep-seeded traditions of xenophobia. Indeed, the nineteenth century French policy of the mission civilicatrice (civilizing mission) still influences French policy toward its immigrants today: rather than accept cultural differences, the French government demands that all its citizens adhere to a rigid and exclusive “French” identity.As such, the children of the generation of immigrants that the French government actively brought to France to fuel its post-war expansion now find themselves unemployed and socially marginalized. Government social structures meant to ease the disparity between social classes, such as public housing and education, generally do more to aggravate problems than to solve them; public housing is woefully inadequate and the education structure institutionalizes the poor quality of schools in immigrant communities. Despite this generally poor outlook, the French have recently made some progress toward better integration of their immigrant communities, though these efforts are generally met with wide-spread demagogic and populist opposition.LES ÉMEUTES D'OCTOBRE EN FRANCE: ÉCHEC DE LA POLITIQUE D'IMMIGRATION OU L'EMPIRE CONTRE-ATTAQUE?En octobre 2005, dans les banlieues de Paris, Lyon, Lille et d'autres villes françaises, oú prédominent les immigrés arabes, des émeutes ont éclaté, menées par des adolescents socialement aliénés, dont beaucoup étaient des immigrés de deuxième ou troisième génération. Pour nombre d'observateurs français, ces événements ont douloureusement confirmé que la politique d'immigration de la France était un échec cuisant. Le magnifique idéal français d'égalité de tous les citoyens de la République, lui-même un sous-produit du passé colonial de la France, se révélait décidément incompatible avec la réalité du 21e siècle.En matière d'immigration, l'expérience de la France est sensiblement différente de celle des autres pays européens, la France étant marquée par une histoire coloniale, un idéalisme républicain, une structure gouvernementale rigidement centralisée et une tradition de xénophobie profondément ancrée. D'ailleurs, l'approche française de la mission civilisatrice, qui avait cours au 19e siècle, continue d'influencer la politique de la France à l'égard de ses immigrés: plutôt que d'accepter les différences culturelles, le Gouvernement français exige que tous les citoyens adhèrent à une identité « française » à la fois rigide et exclusive.Les enfants des immigrés que le Gouvernement français avait fait venir en France pour soutenir son expansion d'après-guerre se retrouvent maintenant au chômage et socialement marginalisés. Les structures sociales gouvernementales destinées à atténuer les disparités entre classes sociales, notamment le logement social et l'enseignement, font souvent plus pour aggraver les problèmes que pour les résoudre. Les logements sociaux sont cruellement insuffisants et le système d'enseignement institutionnalise la mauvaise qualité des établissements scolaires fréquentés par les communautés d'immigrés. Malgré ces perspectives généralement médiocres, les Français ont fait des progrès dans le sens d'une meilleure intégration de ces communautés, bien que ces efforts se heurtent généralement à une importante opposition teintée de démagogie et de populisme.LAS REVUELTAS DE OCTUBRE EN FRANCIA: ¿UNA POLÍTICA DE INMIGRACIÓN ERRÓNEA O EL IMPERIO CONTRAATACA?En octubre de 2005, los barrios donde predomina la inmigración árabe de París, Lyon, Lille y otras ciudades francesas fueron el escenario de revueltas de adolescentes socialmente alienados, muchos de ellos inmigrantes de segunda o tercera generación. Para muchos observadores franceses, fue un doloroso recordatorio de que, con bastante claridad, la política de inmigración de Francia había fracasado. El gran ideal francés de l'égalité, es decir, la igualdad de todos los ciudadanos de la República, consecuencia en sí misma del pasado colonial francés, demostró su incompatibilidad con la realidad del siglo XXI.La experiencia de la inmigración francesa es muy distinta a la de otros países europeos, ya que Francia está marcada por su historia colonial, el idealismo republicano, una estructura gubernamental estrictamente centralizada y unas tradiciones arraigadas de xenofobia. Ciertamente, la política francesa del siglo XIX de la mission civilisatrice (misión civilizadora) influye aún hoy en la política francesa sobre inmigración: más que aceptar las diferencias culturales, el Gobierno francés exige que todos sus ciudadanos se adhieran a una identidad “francesa” rígida y exclusiva.Los hijos de la generación de inmigrantes a los que el Gobierno francés alentó activamente a ir a Francia para impulsar la expansión de la postguerra se encuentran ahora sin trabajo y marginados de la sociedad. Las estructuras sociales del Estado, encaminadas a disminuir la disparidad entre clases sociales, tales como la vivienda y la educación públicas, contribuyen generalmente a agravar los problemas más que a solucionarlos: las viviendas públicas son lamentablemente inadecuadas y la estructura educativa institucionaliza la escasa calidad de las escuelas de las comunidades de inmigrantes. A pesar de este panorama en general poco prometedor, los franceses han logrado recientemente algunos progresos hacia una mejor integración de sus comunidades inmigrantes, aunque estos esfuerzos se encuentran a menudo con una oposición demagógica y populista ampliamente extendida.

IMISCOE Research Series

Senegalese migration is a useful case to study because Senegalese migrants are present in many different contexts of reception. They have long migrated to destinations within Africa, including neighboring countries such as the Gambia and Guinea and more-distant destinations such as Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Africa (Bredeloup 1993). While France was the main destination of Senegalese intercontinental emigration during most of the twentieth century, Senegalese migrants have since diversified their mobility to include many countries in Europe, North America, and Asia. Indeed, most Senegalese who travel abroad can recount stories of meeting other Senegalese in the markets of Nairobi, the cafés of Paris, the New York subway, or the streets of Bangkok. This book takes advantage of part of this diversity of destinations to examine how variation in the socio-legal features of different contexts of reception creates complex trajectories of legal status for this intrepid group of migrants and will link different forms of legal status to the migrants' integration in the destination society and their ongoing participation in the development of their origin communities. While many different destinations could have been considered, this book and the data-collection project on which it is based chose to focus on France, Italy, and Spain. These three countries account for approximately 45% of all Senegalese migrants residing abroad (Beauchemin and González-Ferrer 2011). While they are all developed countries in the European Union, variations in their historical relationship with Senegal, the evolution of their immigration-control policies, their experiences in receiving immigrants, and their economies all create different configurations of legal status and possibilities of irregularity. France is of obvious interest as the former colonial power in Senegal. Research has shown that links of language, transportation, and economic exchange forged during colonial times underlie many migration systems across the world (Kritz et al. 1992), and the migration patterns between Senegal and France are no exception to

This article examines how street-level bureaucrats within migration control use their scope for discretionary powers. On the basis of two ethnographic studies of French consulates in Yaoundé and Tunis, we argue that state agents' practices are significantly shaped by organizational constraints such as how decision-making processes are organized and the bureaucratic habitus, including the fear of fraud. Like other street-level bureaucrats, consular agents are able to draw on legal frameworks in a flexible and instrumental manner. Yet in the field of migration policy, their scope for discretionary decision-making is wider and influenced by their belief that they are acting to defend the national interest. This gives a more political dimension to the way such agents deal with law.

Revue française de sociologie, 2009

There are two thrusts to French immigration policy: restricting new arrivals and, simultaneously, facilitating access to French nationality. In the recent period, the public authorities have focused closely on naturalization, and this has led to a significant increase in number of persons naturalized French, and to the development of a solemn ceremony for conferring on them the certificate officializing their new status. On the basis of a three-year study conducted in the Paris region, we show that naturalization may be considered as a rite of passage that transforms the foreigner into a citizen after a long selection test, whose positive outcome is then celebrated by an integration ceremony. Above all, it may be considered as a rite of institution that brings about a dual separation: among immigrants who are candidates for citizenship, the test distinguishes those deemed worthy of joining the national community, but the ceremony also differentiates within the nation those who came from elsewhere. The ambiguity of naturalization thus inheres in the fact that at the moment it produces sameness, it introduces otherness, as is brought to light by a comparison of the celebrations observed in the state administration of the prefecture with those observed in municipalities. Nevertheless, the ritual is a performative act that brings into existence what it utters and ties the national community together through the promise of a genuine contract.