ABSTRACT
France has long been acknowledged as a principle destination country for migrants3 where the process of incorporation (known in French as ‘intégration’ until the mid-1990s) is framed by two pillar principles: republicanism and secularism (laïcité).4 Where France was once viewed as the prototypical model of republican integration, it is now viewed as simply one model among others, including those of Britain and Germany. The convergent elements of these historically different traditions could certainly be better addressed, in particular when looking at what could be called Muslim politics, that is, the set of rules, political decisions and provisions addressing the needs expressed by Muslims. As has occurred in other European settings, Islam and Muslims have become priorities on the political agenda, as a result of both domestic dynamics and international events. The main distinction between France and its European neighbours lies in a different definition of nationhood (ethnic versus territorial, if comparing France and Germany) and with the development of a multicultural conception of politics, articulating race and ethnicity as central criteria for the implementation of justice in the British context. In recent years, and in particular following the transposition of European anti-discrimination provisions, the French political formula of incorporation is not very radically challenging when compared with other European ‘philosophies of integration’ (Favell 1998). Indeed, it has been described recently as convergent with other historically defined Anglo-Saxon traditions of accommodation and recognition of ethnic diversity (Amiraux, et al. 2008).
