CIAO DATE: 07/03

The Implication of the Concept of the French State-Nation and 'Patrie' for French Discourses on (Algerian) Immigration

Ulla Holm

December 2002

Copenhagen Peace Research Institute

Introduction

The purpose of the article is to explore how the 'exceptionality' of the concept of the French political state-nation together with the concept of 'patrie' (country) frames what can be said and not said in the discourses on (Maghrebi) immigration. The question is therefore how the building blocks of the definition of the French state-nation and 'patrie' frame the discursive struggle between the dominant and marginalized discourses. Furthermore I will investigate to which extend the discourses on immigration succeed in 'securitizing' the immigrant.

The article proceeds in three parts. The first analyses the relationship between the concept of the political nation, state and patrie. The second part analyses how the above mentioned concepts relate and frame the different discourses. The last part discusses to which extent immigration has been 'securitized'.

Full Text (PDF, 37 pgs., 263 KB)