A Post-Colonial Bouillabaisse: Africans in France — Context and Theory

Abstract

This chapter provides historical and contemporary contextual information and theoretical perspectives to frame and illuminate the experience of Sub-Saharan Africans living in France. First, I discuss how most of the Sub-Saharan Africans in France today are part of a colonial legacy in which Sub-Saharan African immigrants are linked historically and culturally to France, and how these immigrants from different regions and countries constitute a colonial bouillabaisse with shared francophonie (French-speaking) status. I then profile the magnitude of Sub-Saharan Africans as a group compared to other immigrant groups, and in doing so examine the issue of accurately counting those of Sub-Saharan African descent. I next consider the foundations for identity and citizenship in metropolitan France as they may involve the internalization of French culture, jus soli (ties to soil), and the unevenness that manifests itself across immigrant groups. Last, I discuss the history, development, economic marginalization, and social isolation of the banlieues (suburbs) of France today, which are largely inhabited by resident immigrants and those of immigrant descent. In the final section, I introduce the relevant theories and concepts guiding this analysis.

The French colonial empire in Africa, dating from the 1600s to the 1960s, serves as the basis for a bouillabaisse of varied peoples, some post-colonial and others from European countries, being simmered together in a pot that retains distinctive elements while becoming a French stew. Bouillabaisse is an apt analogy for the immigrant integration process, as this soup from the port city of Marseille typically brings together at least three types of fish while distinguishing itself from other fish soups by its use of herbs and spices from the Provence region in the south of France along the Mediterranean Sea. The word bouillabaisse comes from two French verbs, bouillir, meaning to boil, and abaisser, meaning to reduce heat and simmer (Michelin Guide Vert 1990). Thus, this slow-cooking process resembles the integration process, which maintains that irrespective of differences all are equal while taking on a particular French flavor, and indeed the pot may boil over if not watched.