What Is it to Become French ? Naturalization as a Republican Rite of Institution

There are two thrusts to French immigration policy: restricting new arrivals and, simultaneously, facilitating access to French nationality. In the recent period, the public authorities have focused closely on naturalization, and this has led to a significant increase in number of persons naturalize...

Descripció completa

Guardat en:
Dades bibliogràfiques
Autors principals: Fassin, Didier, Mazouz, Sarah
Format: Article ou chapitre numérique
Idioma:Français
Publicat: 2009
Accés en línia:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
id cairn-RFS_505_0037
record_format cairn
spelling cairn-RFS_505_0037RFS1Revue française de sociologie https://shs.cairn.info/revue-francaise-de-sociologie-1-2009-5-page-37?lang=en https://doi.org/10.3917/rfs.505.0037 What Is it to Become French ? Naturalization as a Republican Rite of Institution Fassin, DidierMazouz, Sarah2009 fre Revue française de sociologie | 50 | 5 | 2009-12-17 | p. 37-64 | 0035-2969 RFS_5056 There are two thrusts to French immigration policy: restricting new arrivals and, simultaneously, facilitating access to French nationality. In the recent period, the public authorities have focused closely on naturalization, and this has led to a significant increase in number of persons naturalized French, and to the development of a solemn ceremony for conferring on them the certificate officializing their new status. On the basis of a three-year study conducted in the Paris region, we show that naturalization may be considered as a rite of passage that transforms the foreigner into a citizen after a long selection test, whose positive outcome is then celebrated by an integration ceremony. Above all, it may be considered as a rite of institution that brings about a dual separation: among immigrants who are candidates for citizenship, the test distinguishes those deemed worthy of joining the national community, but the ceremony also differentiates within the nation those who came from elsewhere. The ambiguity of naturalization thus inheres in the fact that at the moment it produces sameness, it introduces otherness, as is brought to light by a comparison of the celebrations observed in the state administration of the prefecture with those observed in municipalities. Nevertheless, the ritual is a performative act that brings into existence what it utters and ties the national community together through the promise of a genuine contract.Cairn free access
language Français
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/Cairn/
description There are two thrusts to French immigration policy: restricting new arrivals and, simultaneously, facilitating access to French nationality. In the recent period, the public authorities have focused closely on naturalization, and this has led to a significant increase in number of persons naturalized French, and to the development of a solemn ceremony for conferring on them the certificate officializing their new status. On the basis of a three-year study conducted in the Paris region, we show that naturalization may be considered as a rite of passage that transforms the foreigner into a citizen after a long selection test, whose positive outcome is then celebrated by an integration ceremony. Above all, it may be considered as a rite of institution that brings about a dual separation: among immigrants who are candidates for citizenship, the test distinguishes those deemed worthy of joining the national community, but the ceremony also differentiates within the nation those who came from elsewhere. The ambiguity of naturalization thus inheres in the fact that at the moment it produces sameness, it introduces otherness, as is brought to light by a comparison of the celebrations observed in the state administration of the prefecture with those observed in municipalities. Nevertheless, the ritual is a performative act that brings into existence what it utters and ties the national community together through the promise of a genuine contract.
author Fassin, Didier
Mazouz, Sarah
spellingShingle Fassin, Didier
Mazouz, Sarah
What Is it to Become French ? Naturalization as a Republican Rite of Institution
author_facet Fassin, Didier
Mazouz, Sarah
author_sort Fassin, Didier
title What Is it to Become French ? Naturalization as a Republican Rite of Institution
title_short What Is it to Become French ? Naturalization as a Republican Rite of Institution
title_full What Is it to Become French ? Naturalization as a Republican Rite of Institution
title_fullStr What Is it to Become French ? Naturalization as a Republican Rite of Institution
title_full_unstemmed What Is it to Become French ? Naturalization as a Republican Rite of Institution
title_sort what is it to become french ? naturalization as a republican rite of institution
publishDate 2009
container_title
container_issue
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-francaise-de-sociologie-1-2009-5-page-37?lang=en
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.3917/rfs.505.0037
_version_ 1877246588907159552