Introduction

Abstract

During the last fifteen years immigration, the integration of ethnic minorities, and racism have become central issues in French politics. A 1990 opinion poll found that immigration was the second most important domestic concern after social and economic inequality.¹ The intense political debate as to the future position of ethnic minorities within France, whether they will gradually merge with the host society or constitute an indigestible enclave which threatens the integrity of the nation ‘one and indivisible’, has invariably centred on the position of the ‘Arabs’, the North Africans.² Among the minorities of Maghrebian origin or descent, the Algerians stand out as a particular object of hostility, the group that is perceived to epitomise all that is most alien and threatening to French identity. The racist targeting of North African immigrants or their descendents, the ‘second generation’ Beurs, in incidences of abuse, assault and murder is higher than for any other minority group.³ In recent years, particularly after the right-wing Charles Pasqua became Minister of the Interior in 1993, the Beurs have been a constant target of police harassment which has generated explosive tensions and rioting in the huge, rundown council estates of the outer suburbs.