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The Regulation of Migration, Integration, and of Multiculturalism in Twenty-First-Century France

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Citizenship and Belonging in France and North America

Abstract

This chapter explores the relationship between migration, integration, and multiculturalism in twenty-first-century France. The first argument 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, it argues 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.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ‘Jungle’ (as it was unofficially called) refers to an encampment of migrants and asylum-seekers, mainly from Africa and the Middle East near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in Calais from 2015 to 2017. However, it is the continuation to one degree or another of an earlier series of encampments dating back to 2002. The location of this camp reflected the desire of most migrants and asylum-seekers to reach the UK.

  2. 2.

    The 1905 law on ‘the separation of State and Churches’ sought to curb the power of the Catholic Church in public affairs. However, it also dictated ‘the freedom of conscience’ (meaning the right to practice one’s religion with protection from the state), and the equal respect of all faiths and beliefs, although it also forbade the public funding of religious positions in the public sphere, and not the individual practice of religion (e.g. wearing religious symbols) in the public sphere (see Weil 2008).

  3. 3.

    On the family reunification directive, see Samers and Collyer (2017, 194–196). For the Blue card, see https://ec.europa.eu/immigration/blue-card/essential-information_en, and for the Seasonal worker directive: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/legal-migration/work_en

  4. 4.

    In June 2018, the Front National became the Rassemblement National .

  5. 5.

    See also Brayson (2019) for a similar argument.

  6. 6.

    The Stasi Commission was established by Chirac in 2003 in order to debate the place of the veil in public education in France. It consisted of 20 members and interviewed dozens of leaders from the government and civil society.

  7. 7.

    The burka is a garment that completely covers the body, including the face, while the niqab is a veil which covers the face entirely, but leaves an opening for the eyes.

  8. 8.

    Signed originally in 1985, and later revised in 1990, the Schengen Agreement abolished border controls between many (but not all) EU member states.

  9. 9.

    ‘Le terrorisme ne détruira pas la République. Car c’est la République qui le détruira. Vive la République et vive la France’ (16/11/2015, Congrès à Versailles, cited in Sandré 2018, p. 16, my translation).

  10. 10.

    This is unfortunately, an understudied question (but see Carvalho 2018).

  11. 11.

    ‘nourrie de plusieurs affluents’, cited in Dravigny, 2018, 9, my translation.

  12. 12.

    This is the name of the official residence of the President of France.

  13. 13.

    ‘Qu’ils s’appellent Jean ou Malika, c’est ça l’identité française. […] Ce n’est pas quelque chose qui nous diviserait, ce n’est pas quelque chose qu’on veut nous enlever, parce que l’identité française, c’est un projet, c’est ce qui nous fait avancer, c’est ce que nous sommes en train d”inventer’, cited in Bretton 2018, n.p., my translation.

  14. 14.

    ‘Contrairement à ce que certains disent, nous ne sommes pas aujourd’hui confrontés à une vague d’immigration’. ‘Le sujet de l’immigration ne devrait donc pas inquiéter la population française’... ‘l’immigration n’est pas quelque chose dont nous pourrions nous départir. De surcroît, l’immigration se révèle une chance d’un point économique, culturel, social’, cited in Cassadeus 2017, n.p., my translation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Michael Samers

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  1. Michael Samers
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Correspondence to Michael Samers .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Modern Languages Department, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, USA

    Ramona Mielusel

  2. Department of Languages and Literatures, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Simona Emilia Pruteanu

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Samers, M. (2020). The Regulation of Migration, Integration, and of Multiculturalism in Twenty-First-Century France. In: Mielusel, R., Pruteanu, S. (eds) Citizenship and Belonging in France and North America. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30158-3_4

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