how formation of common identity in France?
Answers
Explanation:
France is in the midst of an ongoing debate over what it means to be French — a debate of crucial
importance for immigrants and their descendants. The central question revolves around whether it is
possible to have what some call “hyphenated identities.” Can someone belong to France and still have
ties to a minority culture or a foreign country? While the concept of “dual belonging” is accepted in
multiculturalist societies (such as the United States and Canada), it has been criticized in France, where
many perceive identity as a zero-sum game: commitment to a minority culture or a foreign country
detracts from the quality of one’s commitment to French identity.
A 2008-09 survey of 22,000 respondents, Trajectories and Origins: The Diversity of Population in
France,
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contradicts this “zero sum” view, showing that individuals frequently have “plural allegiances,”
or closeness to more than one nation. These feelings do not appear to be in conflict for most immigrants
or descendants of immigrants. Over half the immigrants surveyed and nine out of ten second-generation
respondents, many with ties outside France, said they “feel French.”
The survey also reveals large differences across ethnic groups, both in rates of citizenship acquisition
and in perceptions of Frenchness. For example, only 50 percent of immigrants from Turkey said they
“feel French.” But many individuals who do not identify themselves as French still feel invested in the
communities in which they live. Indeed, 61 percent of respondents who said they do not “feel French” also
said that they feel “at home” in France. The discrepancy between those who feel at home in France and
those who feel French is particularly high among immigrants from Turkey (30 points); from the European
Union (EU)-27 countries (35 points); and from Morocco, Tunisia, Southeast Asia, Spain, and Italy (from 22
to 24 points).
National identity is not only a product of individual feelings of belonging and attachment; it is also
affected by external perceptions of identity. Of immigrants with French citizenship, nearly half reported
that they are not perceived as “being French,” as did one-quarter of descendants of immigrants. These
numbers are even starker for “visible” minorities — those perceived as different due to skin color,
language, accent, self-presentation, or surname — suggesting that looking and sounding French are
important dimensions of feeling French.
While public debates tend to portray dual citizenship and feelings of closeness to other countries or
cultures as being in competition with French national identity, this and other surveys put into question
whether plural allegiances are necessarily in conflict. That ethnicity is part of one’s identity does not
exclude feelings of being invested in and rooted to France. In reality, so-called hyphenated identities
and plural allegiances can actually be conducive to building strong communities. Being able to navigate
among plural identities offers resources in our globalized societies, whereas assimilationist requirements
create more stigmatization of ethnic minorities and undermine integration prospects. The key parameter
for integration is the willingness of the majority to accept “newcomers” into the fabric of society. The
French anti-multiculturalism discourse creates the condition for the rejection of plural belongings by the
mainstream society, and thus a marginalization of visible minorities.