African Immigrant Families in Another France

by Bass, Loretta E. E

• ISBN13: 9780230361959
• ISBN10: 0230361951
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-09-25
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Immigrant incorporation has become a key issue for France and other European societies. This book uses voices of individuals within Sub-Saharan African immigrant families to describe their integration experience as 'Another France.' Racialization is inherent in the immigration process for African migrants, and a low immigrant status is granted, limiting their employment and social integration, and many times irrespective of their qualifications or citizenship documents. First- and second-generation African youth report being, 'French on the inside, African on the out' because they hold a French mentality but are continually put into an 'other' category. The 'power of skin' accords this status of 'immigrant other' which infiltrates all of their social interactions. Further, the practices of French universalism and secularism taken together have become in essence a straightjacket and 'ostrich policy' for France.

Author Biography

Loretta E. Bass is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma, USA. Her research interests include childhood studies and demography and her recent publications include Child Labor in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Table of Contents

1. Why Study Black African Immigrants in France?
2. Context and Theory – A Post-colonial Bouillabaisse and Africans in France
PART II: STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
3. Social Structures Shaping Immigrant Integration: 'The Power of Skin'
4. Cultural Differences, Asserting Oneself, and Religion: 'Take your place'
5. Identity and the Integration of Youth: 'French on the inside'
PART III: THEORIZING INTEGRATION AND CONCLUSIONS
6. Conclusions: Inequality, Dis/Location and Sub-Saharan African Integration