Diasporas a la francaise: recent francophone contributions to the literature

摘要

In France, social research has always been affected by the contradiction between the enduring social significance of the ethnic origin of individuals, and the continued resistance of state authorities to countenance any systematic collection of data structured around ethnicity. Since popular and academic discourse finds it necessary to refer to sections of society that, in the UK, are currently labelled 'black and ethnic minority', a variety of terms have been used, including l'immigration, deuxieme generation and, for individuals of North African origin, beurs. Since the mid 1990s, references to diaspora in French public life have begun to take on this role. It is now widely used, particularly in the media, to refer to groups of specific national, and occasionally ethnic, origin, regardless of citizenship or country of birth.