Lomonosov Moscow State University

Graduate School of Business Administration

The Analysis of the French Model of Integration

by

Karina Faizullina

Academic Research and Writing, Group II

Supervisor Kainova

May 19, 2011

Table of contents

Introduction……………………………………………….…….….3

1. Historical background……………………………………….…...5

1.1 Traditional refuge for the immigrants………….…….……5

1.2 Immigrants in modern France………………….……….....6

2. The role of immigrants in the life of the country………..………..6

2.1 Political sphere…………………………….…………....….6

2.2 Economic sphere………………………….………………...8

2.3 Social sphere………………………………………..……..10

Conclusion……….…………………………………………….……13

Reference list….……………………..…………...…………......…...14

Introduction

Although the term 'integration" is not thoroughly understood to most people, each of us comes across with this notion in their everyday life. Immigrants who come across to this country are integrated into the host society. One can find them everywhere-a shop assistant in a supermarket, a taxi driver, a waiter in a cafe, etc. Most of these people are immigrants and the citizens of the country are those who help them to integrate. Immigrants have to learn our laws, culture, traditions, they get acquainted with native Russians, make friends with them and, thus, they gradually adapt in the society. Such a process is known as integration.

A scholastic definition of the process mentioned above was given by Wolfgang Bosswick and Friedrich Heckmann in their work Integration of migrants: Contribution of local and regional authorities (2006, pages 1-2):

“Integration is understood as the process of inclusion of immigrants in the institutions and relationships of the host society. The question of integrating immigrants into a country is framed primarily at the level of the nation state. Such an approach makes sense in terms of formulating policies, creating legal and administrative frameworks and for collecting and disseminating statistical data.”

“Integration, in a sociological context, refers to stable, cooperative relations within a clearly defined social system. Integration can also be viewed as a process – that of strengthening relationships within a social system, and of introducing new actors and groups into the system and its institutions. The integration of immigrants is primarily a process: if this process succeeds, the society is said to be integrated.”

It should be noted, however, in the given project work we are going to consider the period under review, that is the integration in France or, to be more exact, the policy of the given process which is called 'French model of ‘integration'. The aim of the project work is to clarify whether such a model has more 'pros' or it has a great number of 'cons'.

1. Historical background

   1. Traditional refuge for the immigrants

France accepts immigrants for more than 150 years. In the second half of the XIXth century, while the majority of migrants from Europe went to explore new lands (in the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, etc.), France was the only country from the Old World, who was hosting a large number of foreigners. In 1889, France celebrated the hundred-year anniversary of the French Revolution and there were more than a million of immigrants and many of them acquired French citizenship on this occasion. Until the period of the civil war, France had a lack of men power due to the low level of demographic growth. Therefore, refugees from Greece, Armenia, Russia, Spain and other countries joined immigrants who came for job searching (mostly Italians and Poles).

The period after World War I was very difficult for France, it was the country that suffered the most among all European countries. France had the lowest birth rate because they lost 1.4 million young men out of the total population of 40 million. For that reason France had to adopt immigrants to recover the population rate. (Alec G. Hargreaves, 2007, pages 16-17)

Immigration again takes a massive scale after the Second World War, particularly in the late 50's. The generation that was born during the postwar demographic explosion has not yet reached working age and the country has already entered a period of rapid growth, which went down in history as The Glorious Thirty. Firstly, young workers from Italy and Spain started to arrive, later - from the Maghreb and Portugal, Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Asia. From the middle of the 1970s the economic crisis and the exit in a labor market of numerous representatives of postwar generations are accompanied by a sharp growth of unemployment. In 1974 the restrictive measures against immigrants coming for job searching are taken, as a result their inflow is reduced.