Abstract
This chapter first analyses situations where French of Algerian origin (FAOs) identify themselves as migrants. On the one hand, that identification is used as additional confirmation of being French, e.g. when an immigrant describes their living within French society as a conscious choice. On the other hand, the social ‘inheritability’ of immigrant status by FAOs may be presented as an argument against their Frenchness, e.g. the conviction that they are not at home in France, or because of having experienced xenophobia. When FAOs visit Algeria, they are called emigrants. In addition, the context of migration favours certain characteristics being interpreted as national, even if they are considered neutral outside that context. At the end of the chapter, situations are discussed in which objections are made to connecting the national identification of FAOs with the context of migration.
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Notes
- 1.
The majority of children born in France to immigrant parents, when asked: ‘How would you describe your origins, when you think of your family history?’, most frequently mention (where more than one answer is possible) France (41 per cent) or the country of origin (45 per cent). Thus, they include France in their family history much more often than their parents, for most of whom origin is primarily associated with the country from which they emigrated (61 per cent), and less so with the host country (17 per cent). The answer ‘France’ is given most often, though, in the answers of children from mixed families (France: 66 per cent, country of origin: 16 per cent), and even more often in the answers of French children neither of whose parents was an immigrant (France: 58 per cent, other country: 4 per cent, although here a region is more often given: 17 per cent, which is practically absent from the answers of immigrants and their children [2 per cent each] (Simon 2012, 11). Moreover, members of the second generation have a greater feeling of Frenchness than their parents. The percentages of those who agree with the statement ‘I feel at home in France’ are: 51 per cent of all first-generation immigrants, 66 per cent of the children of immigrants born in their parents’ country of origin, 69 per cent of the children born in France to immigrant parents, and 83 per cent of the children in mixed families. In the second generation there is also greater agreement with the statement ‘I feel French’ (42 per cent in generations 1 and 1.5 of Algerian immigrants; 68 per cent in generations 2 and 2.5; 88 per cent among the majority population), but diminishing agreement with the statement ‘I feel Algerian’ (44 per cent in generations 1 and 1.5 of Algerian immigrants; 32 per cent in generations 2 and 2.5) (Simon 2012, 7–9).
- 2.
In 2003, 39 per cent of French people agreed (completely or to some extent) with the statement: ‘Immigrants make a large contribution to the development of our country’, while exactly half disagreed (by way of comparison, 66 per cent of Belgians disagreed with the statement—the highest in the EU at that time, as did 26 per cent of Portuguese and 31 per cent of Swedes—the lowest among the 15 EU Member States at that time). In the same surveys, 42 per cent of French people agreed with the statement: ‘Immigrants threaten our way of life’ (this time, Belgians were most in agreement with this at 53 per cent, and Swedes the least at 25 per cent) (European Opinion Research Group (EEIG) 2004, 27). In 2008, 36 per cent of children aged 18–50 born in France to immigrant parents and holding French citizenship declared that they had experienced situations in which their right to French identification was denied. French-born descendants of immigrants also declare more often than other French people whose parents were not immigrants that they have experienced racism (43 per cent vs 8 per cent) or discrimination based on their appearance or origin (31 per cent vs 11 per cent) (Simon 2012, 13). From these studies, one can conclude that the people most likely to have their Frenchness questioned are French of Asian origin (44 per cent), followed by French of Maghrebi or Arab origin (43 per cent), Turkish origin (43 per cent), and African origin whose skin is black (41 per cent). People who are citizens and first- or second-generation immigrants of European origin whose skin is white are much less likely to have their Frenchness questioned (only 10 per cent) (Simon 2012, 14).
- 3.
Surveys by Ahsène Zehraoui (1999, 177–183), Evelyne Perrin (2008, 21 et seq.) and Frédérique Sicard (2011, 44–61) confirm that FAOs are identified by their peers at school as Arabs or Muslims. Perrin talks of the daily experience of racism at school or at work, especially when looking for work. She points out that one strategy for providing an affirmative answer to the question ‘Do you feel well in France?’ is to disregard stimuli attesting to the existence of racism while at the same time refusing to see oneself as a victim. The researcher also notes that, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, there was an increase in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment (Perrin 2008 24–28).
- 4.
Cf. the answer of one of the subjects of Fabienne Rio (2010, 121) to the question of what citizenship he would choose if he could have only one: ‘I’d choose to be Algerian because my parents are Algerian, so I would do so out of a desire for continuity and for several other reasons that concern us here. You know, we have French citizenship, but it’s always the same, our appearance means we’re different, and that probably won’t change. So there’s no point in being a second-class citizen. If they really accepted us, then okay [I would choose French citizenship]. But they’re always telling us “no”. So I have dual citizenship, which suits me, I don’t pay much attention to it’ (Mustafa, 26, completed physical studies, conducts surveys in cooperation with Algeria).
- 5.
Such an attitude was expressed by, for example, one of the persons surveyed by Rio (2010, 112): ‘What are you talking about? What language am I speaking to you, and what school did I go to? I’m dressed like you are! … We talk about more or less the same things, watch the same TV programmes, the same films. What’s the difference between us? Just that our parents are Algerian? It’s never been a problem!’ (Amar, aged 31, bachelor’s degree in mathematics, a teacher). A 14-year-old-boy in the survey by Sicard responded in a similar tone: ‘They’re asking too much of us! They want us to integrate to the point of giving up practically everything! … They don’t realise that everything you do, going to school, even if it’s compulsory, working… I feel integrated! For no reason other than that on Friday I was going to the mosque and had on a djellaba [a long, woollen, long-sleeved, hooded tunic], they started looking at me strangely… Once I got talking with a woman who said to her husband: “Look at them, they seem to think they’re right at home!” And I told her: “We believe we are at home! This is my home, I’m a French citizen! This is my home, so if you don’t like it, get lost! I’ve been here for a long time and I’m here to stay. If you don’t like it, you’re the one who can get out!”’ (Sicard 2011, 111).
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Kubera, J. (2020). Identification with Immigrants. In: Identifications of French People of Algerian Origin . Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35836-5_5
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