Ethnoclass Politics in France: Multiculturalism in an Assimilationist Republic

Just as France officially denied the existence of ethnoterritorial minorities for nearly 200 years, so the French have rarely thought of themselves as an immigrant society. Contrary to Americans, who have tended to exaggerate the integrative, “melting pot” nature of U.S. society, the French have clung to the image of France as a culturally homogeneous country composed of an indigenous Gaul community. 1 Significantly, it is this perception rather than reality that continues to influence policy in today’s increasingly multicultural France. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.