Beyond Assimilation: Shifting Boundaries of Belonging in France

Abstract

The history of France’s immigration policy goes back to the late eighteenth century, when industrialisation began in the context of early demographic decline. Since then, it has hesitated between a policy of settlement and a policy of recruiting labourers. The shortage of workers and future soldiers in the second part of the nineteenth century led to the call for foreign workers. The intention was ‘to make French from foreigners’ in spite of public debates, which were focussed on the risks of immigration for French identity. Issues of immigration were treated in a rather pragmatic manner, without any coherent policy, and were led in a very concrete way by employers and civil-society organisations. In 1974, a turning point appeared when France decided to stop the recruitment of salaried labourers. This decision, initially provisional, stopped the movement of foreigners between France and their countries of origin and defined a policy of integration. In the 1980s, a strong politicisation of immigration and integration then took place.