Beyond Assimilation: Shifting Boundaries of Belonging in France
Résumé
The history of France’s immigration policy goes back to the lateeighteenth century, when industrialisation began in the context of earlydemographic decline. Since then, it has hesitated between a policy ofsettlement and a policy of recruiting labourers. The shortage of workersand future soldiers in the second part of the nineteenth century led tothe call for foreign workers. The intention was ‘to make French fromforeigners’ in spite of public debates, which were focussed on the risksof immigration for French identity...