Division in the Land of Liberty and Fraternity How the "Beurs" are marginalized in modern France

Division in the Land of Liberty and Fraternity

How the "Beurs" are marginalized in modern France

During the French Revolution, France cast itself as the world's liberator. The revolutionaries promised to depose all the tyrants of Europe. After Napoleon I, France developed a strong national identity centered around a powerful government in Paris. This image of France as a nation united with a distinct identity is very important. Today these two ideas are in conflict over what to do with the country's sizable Muslim minority. One side says that the descendents of Muslim immigrants are slowly but surely being absorbed into the social fabric of the country. The other side emphasizes the serious remaining differences between the native white Catholic French and the Muslims. Muslims have been in France since the second world war, and have come primarily from Algeria and Morrocco. When they first arrived they found plenty of work as unskilled laborers and were relatively prosperous until the French economy began to cool off in the early 80's. The vast majority of the immigrants moved into large housing projects in the suburbs of the large cities. Today, the word "suburb" in French has come to be associated with images of crime and poverty. According to the 1990 census by the French government, 1.3 millions Maghrebian immigrants live in France, and have had approximately 1 million children who are almost all French citizens. These "beurs" have grown up in the French culture, but the question remains whether they are truly French. In the areas of religion, education, and culture, the defenders of current government policy argue that assimilation of these people into French society is going well. But even after 50 years, many Beurs do not identify themselves as French and have created a micro culture of their own to resist the pressures of French society to conform. The question of how extensive this cultural division currently is and whether there is any hope for mending it remains to be uncovered.

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Image courtesy of the Associated Press

Tenstions Flare

In 2004, the French government banned the wearing of religious items in schools. Called "the headscarve ban" by the press, the law was seen by many as being directed specifically at Muslim immigrants and their descendents, the majority of whom hail from the Maghreb region of North Africa. The law ignited a storm of controversy about the status of muslims in France. more...

In a case such as that of the Beurs, when a group is isolated by the government, economic realities, and other citizens, it is no surprise that it will turn towards a culture of its own. In its most basic sense, this mini Muslim culture in France is evidenced by an increase in religious orthodoxy among the youngest generation of French Muslims (Freedman 4-5). The Beur culture is defined more broadly by the housing projects, poverty, discrimination and North African traditions. Limage writes, "Multiple factors have led second and third generation Muslims of Algerian origin to develop new identities and a certain pride. Beur culture is a combination of distant ties to North Africa and the current search for identity between an 'official' French society and the reality of the disadvantaged," (Limage 11). This new culture expresses itself most distinctly in Raï music and a new genre of film. In a lot of these works, the major theme is the search for identity in the two foreign lands of France and Algeria. Over all, Orlando argues, the art of this little culture rejects the principle of centralized secularism and pushes for the creation of a new society that is tolerant and diverse.

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Image courtesy of Remy de la Mauviniere

The Nativists

Jean-Marie Le Pen has carved a name for himself in French politics as an extreme right wing ideologue who appeals to native French anti-immigrant sympathies. The leader of the far-Right "National Front," he favors strict limits on immigration and the deportation of many second generation immigrants who do not whole-heartedly embrace French citizenship. more...

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Chart courtesy of www.pbs.org

"The Silent Minority"
France has the largest population of muslims in Western Europe. more...

Questions Remain

From the brief introduction provided here, it is quite clear that the Beurs of France are certainly separated in some very important ways from the native white population. Several questions necessarily arise, including whether this widening gap can ever be bridged, and what can be done to do that.
What first must be determined, however, is whether second generation Muslims in France are able to one-day identify with France and French society. Unfortunately, the research on this subject is severely lacking. Research on the problem of the Beurs often focuses on economics and government policy, and there are no current interview-based studies. I hope to change that by traveling to France for the course of a summer and conducting interviews with young second generation Muslims. While most of the interviews would undoubtedly focus on the accessible populations of Muslims in the suburbs ringing Paris, I would also attempt to track down wealther French Muslims who have been successful enough to make it out of the Suburbs. My questions would ask about respondents' opinions about the French state and French society, and would attempt to guage young Beurs' hope for the future. With the results of several hundred interviews, I could hopefully make a sketch of how wide the current sociological gap in France really is.

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