Muslim Immigration in France: an Interdisciplinary Exploration

2 Muslim Immigration in France: An Interdisciplinary Exploration A thesis submitted to the Miami University Honors Program in partial fulfillment of the requirements for University Honors with Distinction by Kathleen Joelle Guiler May 2007 Oxford, Ohio 3 Abstract Muslim Immigration in France: An Interdisciplinary Exploration By Kathleen J. Guiler In November 2005, the world watched in shock as protests and riots broke out in the outskirts of many of France’s cities. Although many groups were involved in the riots, they were closely linked to France’s Muslim community. Many of young people involved in the riots, though not devout themselves, came from families that have emigrated from traditionally Muslim countries. This is just one is a long series of clashes between French Muslims and France’s majority. For example, in 2004 young Muslim women in France found themselves in the international spotlight when they insisted on their right to adopt the hijab and wear headscarves in public schools. While these conflicts have varied in terms of severity, they all set forth a similar set of questions, particularly ones that examine underlying issues in an attempt to stop violent confrontations. These questions are so broad and complicated that they necessitate a similarly wide-ranging approach. Therefore, this paper is not traditional in the sense that it does not have a single guiding thesis statement followed by a review of existing literature, a presentation of new evidence, and a conclusion. Rather, it is divided into three parts that address the issue of Muslim immigration from a variety of angles. Each of these sections has a slightly different focus with related conclusions; however when read as a whole, this paper will give the reader a broad but thorough understanding of the recent conflicts in France. The first part will consider the causes and effects of immigration from an interdisciplinary perspective, including geographic, historic, economic, political, and cultural standpoints. This section should provide the reader with a good background of the Muslim community in France and a sense of its current status. The second part is an in-depth examination of the 2005 riots. Certainly, these were the longest and most violent of the conflicts and thus warrant special consideration. The final section of the paper offers a straightforward model to understand the conflicts. The model is based on the ideas and comments of French university students interviewed by the author. 4 5 Muslim Immigration in France: An Interdisciplinary Exploration by Kathleen J. Guiler Approved by: _________________________, Advisor Dr. Ellen Adams _________________________, Advisor Dr. Patricia Reynaud _________________________, Reader Dr. Sheldon Anderson _________________________, Reader Dr. Mark McKinney Accepted by: _________________________, Director, University Honors Program 6 7 Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank Miami University’s Honors and Scholars Program. Throughout this process, the dedicated faculty and staff encouraged and supported me in my efforts. Furthermore, the financial support of this office made my research in France possible. I also would like to thank all the members of my thesis committee, particularly Dr. Mark McKinney; without his expertise and thorough readings, this project would remain unfinished. Finally, I thank my parents, Zach, and Lauren, for their unwavering support and love. This project is a tribute to your confidence in me. Thank you! 8 Table of Contents Part One: Causes and Effects of Muslim Immigration 9 Part Two: A Discussion of the November 2005 Riots 32 Part Three: A Model for Understanding Conflicts With the Muslim Community 47 References 57 Appendix A 63 9 Part One: Causes and Effects of Muslim Immigration 10 Introduction Since France’s colonial days, Muslims have poured into the country from former French states, such as Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. The U.S. Department of State estimates that around five million Muslims live in France, representing roughly eight percent of the total population ("International Religious Freedom Report 2003"). Therefore, the French Muslim population has surpassed the other two minorities, Protestants and Jews, and is second only to Roman Catholics. According to the U.S. Department of State’s report, the “vast majority” of French citizens consider themselves to be Roman Catholic; however, the report estimates that only about eight percent of them are practicing Catholics. Therefore, this paper will simply use the word “majority” to denote the French population at large, since “Roman Catholic majority” would misrepresent the population. The French government has been struggling to assimilate the Muslims into French culture over the past few decades, in hopes of creating a French Islam. The state has found it difficult to exert power over its greatest minority, mostly because French law adheres to the principles of the separation of church and state. It forbids even the collection of religious information, making it impossible to gather exact demographic statistics. This section will use an interdisciplinary approach to explore the causes and effects of Muslim immigration in France. The first section will contemplate the Muslim population from a geographic perspective, considering immigration patterns along with the distribution of the Muslim population within France. The 11 second section will contemplate how Muslim immigration plays a role in French history. French policies in the twentieth century made it difficult for Muslims to pass on the opportunity to emigrate. In more recent times, France has become a harsh environment for Muslims. Discrimination is on the rise, leaving some Muslims feeling like foreigners in their own country. Next, this paper will consider how economic policies have contributed to Muslim immigration. During the colonial period, French investors essentially destroyed local markets. Local economies were left in ruins once colonies became independent states, and they have yet to recover. Finally, the section will look at the cultural and political implications of immigration. In France, Muslims struggle to assimilate while maintaining some form of an Islamic identity. Meanwhile, the government enacts policies to maintain the separation of church and state. Muslims see these policies as a direct attack on their beliefs. Not surprisingly, conflicts, sometimes violent, ensue. Ethnicity and Geography Defining the Muslim population in France is nearly impossible for a variety of complex reasons. First, in everyday conversation, the terms “Muslim,” “Arab,” and sometimes even “immigrant” are used interchangeably to denote any brown- skinned individual, regardless of that person’s actual nationality or religion. This nomenclature is complicated by the French system of citizenship; those born in France are simply French—the government does not keep statistics on citizens’ ethnic origins. Therefore, by law, immigrants’ children and grandchildren are 12 French, despite often being termed (and treated) as foreigners by the general public. To eliminate confusion, French government calls naturalized immigrants and the children of immigrants français issus de l’immigration or FII. Because French Muslims are often grouped together, this paper considers France’s Muslim community as a whole, including those only loosely tied to Islam by family or country of origin. After all, even those who do not practice Islam have faced the same alienation, struggles, and conflicts. All persons of Muslim faith, or even those who physically appear to be Muslim, are often assumed to be of the Maghreb region, which includes Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Indeed, the vast majority of French Muslims originate from these countries. A 1989 survey estimated that Maghrebis in France numbered 1,900,000. The numbers of Turks and West Africans, by contrast, numbered only 200,000 and 100,000 people respectively (Nielson, 11). During France’s colonial period, Muslim people most often emigrated from Maghreb countries because of the relative proximity between these northern African colonies and the mainland. For example, the distance between Algiers and Paris is only a little over eight hundred miles. When compared to other cities of the former French empire, such as Antananarivo, Madagascar (approximately 5,400 miles from Paris), cities found in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia seem like near neighbors of France. In reality, Muslims in France are of all origins and include Maghrebis, Turks, sub-Saharan Africans, Pakistanis, and a few French converts (Roy, 55). 13 Politically, Maghreb Muslims tend to be the main focus of the media. However, other groups, such as the sub-Saharan Muslims, are also an important part of the Islamic presence in France. Their numbers are low compared to Maghrebis, so Sahelians are not associated with the feared fundamentalist Islamic groups. Rather, people associate them with the sans papiers movement, which is made up of illegal immigrants who are demanding naturalization. They also are recognized as a group because some Sahelians practice polygamy and excision (Diouf, 145). The existence of a cohesive Islamic community within France is a myth, according to Oliver Roy, an expert on the French Muslim population. He explains that most discourse within France tries “to project a sense of community onto a Muslim population that does not see itself as such” (Roy, 56). That is to say, many Muslims self-identify with their country of origin (i.e., Algeria,

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