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Who Counts in the Census? Racial and Ethnic Categories in France

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The International Handbook of the Demography of Race and Ethnicity

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 4))

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Abstract

The question of racial and ethnic statistics is part of a debate in France that has been going on for 20 years now: indeed France’s census (performed by the INSEE, Institut National de la Statistique et des etudes économiques or National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) does not include racial or ethnic categories. Furthermore, it is illegal for French structures and institutions (schools, universities, employers, corporations and public administrations) to request and hold information that includes racial or ethnic categories. At the same time, over the years, there have been several attempts – mostly unsuccessful- by scholars, non-governmental organizations and also elected officials, to argue in favor of the inclusion of ethnic statistics, as it has come to be called. This chapter will first present a demographic profile and trends of France, and then expose the methodological and theoretical issues related to the seemingly color-blindness of the French census.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Le Monde, 08-18-2011.

  2. 2.

    Le Monde, 05-02-2010.

  3. 3.

    Le Point, 11-03-2012.

  4. 4.

    Le Monde, 25/07/2011.

  5. 5.

    INED: Institut National d’Etudes Demographiques or National Institute of Demographic Studies; CNIL: Commission Nationale de l’informatique et des libertés or National Commission of information technology and liberties.

  6. 6.

    Le Monde, 12-04-2007.

  7. 7.

    Le Monde, 12-04-2007.

  8. 8.

    Le Monde, 04-12-2008.

  9. 9.

    Le Monde, 04-12-2008.

  10. 10.

    Le Monde, 05-02-2010.

  11. 11.

    Le Monde, 11-16-2007.

  12. 12.

    Le Monde, 04-02-2010.

  13. 13.

    Le Nouvel Observateur, 31-03-2005.

  14. 14.

    Le Monde, 05-02-2010.

  15. 15.

    Le Monde, 11-16-2007.

  16. 16.

    Le Monde, 10-09-2007.

  17. 17.

    Le Monde, 04-17-2007.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Sociology, College of Arts and Lettters, The University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Coast, Long Beach, MS, USA

    Marie des Neiges Léonard

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  1. Marie des Neiges Léonard
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Correspondence to Marie des Neiges Léonard .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Public Policy and Department of Demography, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Rogelio Sáenz

  2. Loyola University Chicago Dept. Sociology, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    David G. Embrick

  3. Dept of Sociology and Population Research Centre, The Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    Néstor P. Rodríguez

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des Neiges Léonard, M. (2015). Who Counts in the Census? Racial and Ethnic Categories in France. In: Sáenz, R., Embrick, D., Rodríguez, N. (eds) The International Handbook of the Demography of Race and Ethnicity. International Handbooks of Population, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8891-8_25

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