ABSTRACT
It is well known that the way immigrants are received in a country depends on its people's perceptions and conceptions of foreigners. Even if the law governing access to, and settlement in, a specific country is not the mere reflection of public opinion, or even of the voters' will, obviously, this law does incorporate a certain amount of its civic culture. Above all, the integration of migrants in a country does not depend on the legal framework alone. It is very much related to everyday interactions between nationals and newcomers, to the way the former accept the latter. Much research has been carried out on the analysis of public attitudes towards foreigners to try and explain the main causes of xenophobia. They demonstrate that attitudes towards strangers are very dependent on social factors, but also that they are very closely related to more general attitudes. 2 In this essay, based on qualitative data, I would like to show how attitudes are shaped within the complex system of values and meaning that constitutes what we are accustomed to calling a national identity. Indeed, they constitute one single element in the more general question of the evolution and adaptation of national identities and civic cultures in the changing dimension of democracies. 3 Improving the cultural and political conditions of foreigners' reception in a specific country means taking into consideration this whole pattern of meanings and values.
