French Politics

, Volume 6, Issue 2, pp 166–177 | Cite as

From Republican Citizens to ‘Young Ethnics’ in the ‘Other France’? Race and Identity in France and the United States

  • Erik Bleich
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Abstract

France and the United States have often been viewed as polar opposites when it comes to issues of race. Yet recent societal and political developments in both countries suggest that there may be a modest convergence around this topic. In the United States, ‘old’ racial perspectives are starting to give way to an increased acknowledgement of the complexities of racial identities. In France, analysts have begun to pay more attention to the role of race, ethnicity, and identity as factors that generate barriers to inclusion and citizenship. This essay draws on three recent books to tease out the ways in which issues of race and identity are shifting on both sides of the Atlantic.

Keywords

race policymaking affirmative action ethnic monitoring France United States 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

For helpful comments on this article, I thank Pepper Culpepper, Stéphane Dufoix, Alec Hargreaves, Daniel Sabbagh and Patrick Weil. All arguments, interpretations, and errors are my own.

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Copyright information

© Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 2008

Authors and Affiliations

  • Erik Bleich
    • 1
  1. 1.Middlebury CollegeMiddleburyUSA

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