IDENTITY DYNAMICS IN FRANCE A FIELD ACTIVITY REPORT by Karim Bouhassoun, ANELD Organization Youth in Action - 4th Nov Strasbourg

I MMIGRATION AND INCLUSION : DEFINITIONS  Foreigner : foreign-born resident in France  Immigrant : foreign-born with French nationality  Descendant : parents (children, grandchildren...) of foreigners and immigrants with French nationality  Sub-Saharan Africa : French-speaking Africa

A SHORT HISTORY OF IMMIGRATION IN F RANCE  An old phenomenon : from the 18 th century to the present  An overview of today  15,4 M people with a foreign background (25%, over 63 M)  5,1 M immigrants  6,5 M direct descendants of immigrants  3,6 M foreigners  Immigrants are mainly of African origin  In 2008, of 11,6 M people composed of immigrants (5,1 millions) and direct descendants (6,5 millions), or 19 % of the population, 5.5 M are from Europe and 4 M from North Africa  Legal immigration (2010) is about new migrants a year, of which outside the European Union Source : Eurostat, INED, INSEE

F RENCH RESIDENCY BY COUNTRY OF NATIONALITY

F RENCH SECULARISM AND ETHNICITY  Republican principles : freedom, equality, fraternity, secularism (added in 1905) and a certain vision of the social contract  Citizenship  French society has become increasingly sensitive to the debate on integration, citizenship and Islam  integration policies based on an absolute defense of republican principles are not well received by minorities “the wearing of signs or dress by which pupils overtly manifest a religious affiliation is prohibited.” Law on religious symbols in public schools, 2004 "The school programs recognize in particular the positive role of the French presence overseas, notably in North Africa” Law on recognition of the Nation, 2005

R ACIAL DISCRIMINATION – N ON EUROPEANS EMPLOYMENT RATE Source : INED

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AMONG DESCENDANTS OF IMMIGRANTS Source : INED

P ROPORTION OF PEOPLE WHO REPORTED EXPERIENCING DISCRIMINATION IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS Source : INED

T HE F RENCH P ARADOX Source : INED

W HICH OF THESE SENTENCES IS CLOSEST TO WHAT YOU THINK ? Source : INED

« L ES BANLIEUES » : FROM RIOTS TO HOPE  disadvantaged suburbs: urban areas located around the central city  What are the features or criteria ?  Geography  Economy  Sociology  Culture  Ethnicity  Psychology ? …

« L ES BANLIEUES » : THE EXAMPLE OF S EINE -S AINT -D ENIS

« L ES BANLIEUES » : SOCIAL OR ETHNIC RIOTS ?  What happened ?  Why ?  Geography  Economy  Sociology  Culture  Ethnicity  Psychology ? …

« L ES BANLIEUES » : THE EXAMPLE OF S EINE -S AINT -D ENIS

C ULTURAL DIVERSITY AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION  Statements on cultural diversity and the construction of identity  If you help a foreigner, the social initiatives you lead must take cultural difference as a fact  Social integration initiatives (towards the nationals) are normality, provided that you help someone who is poor and marginalized, not a “foreigner”  For second generation immigrants inclusion : the most important feature is self-esteem (Mixity = curiosity, Curiosity = openness, Openness = enrichment, Enrichment = positive self-esteem)

S TATE INCLUSION POLICIES IN F RANCE  “Défenseur des droits”, the French Ombudsman, a catch-all institution  The Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and co-development  “Haut Conseil à l’intégration” (a ‘forum for reflection and proposals’) (Website down)  My nephew, Nadir  “Un Islam de France”… what about secularism ???

R EVIEW OF FIELD ACTIVITIES (1): YOUTH PARTICIPATION TO CULTURE  “La fontaine aux images” and “360 Degrés Sud”  Clichy-sous-Bois : epicenter of the riots  Involving young people into cultural programmes  Exporting culture in the blocks  Lessons learned  discovering a new culture is not abandoning your culture  culture, while being a subject of leisure and work, has a strong and cohesive educational function  For the youth : a need to conquer and hold strong benchmarks in areas where Republican imagery is rejected

R EVIEW OF FIELD ACTIVITIES (2): YOUTH POLITICAL INVOLVMENT  Observation :  Public policy towards immigrants effectiveness needs new legitimacy  Poor and excluded immigrants lack political representation  Social policy, not communitarianism  Actions :  International, national and regional coordination of activism  Support for candidates from cultural diversity  Lessons learned  Marginalization transformed into inclusion  Appropriation of the public space  The backbones of immigrants inclusion policies are immigrants themselves

C ONCLUSION AND DEBATE  Bet !!!  Importance of local initiatives and long term initiatives  Involve families  Free youth autonomy  No universal rule on the identity construction dynamics, but psychological obstacles to identify and overcome