1events that took place in France in the autumn of 2005 brought up the problems of the outlying neighborhoods of Paris and other cities in this country, as well as their inhabitants, who became the main actors in the conflict. The article analyzes the identification processes and social changes that occur over several decades within the Maghreb community in France; the relationship of its representatives with the indigenous population of the country; the influence of this community on the French society itself, as well as the integration policy pursued by the French state in relation to immigrants from the Maghreb countries.

A wave of mass emigration from North Africa swept France after World War II. Already at the time of the declaration of independence of Algeria in 1962, the number of Algerians in France, only according to official, underestimated (according to some estimates - twice) data, increased by 1962 to 350 thousand people. The influx of immigrants especially increased in the 1960s, during the period of economic recovery, when the country lacked workers in industrial enterprises.

The influx of immigrants was also influenced by events in the Maghreb countries themselves, which in the late 1950s and early 1960s were covered by the anti-colonial movement. The Algerian war of 1954-1962 provided a new incentive for emigration: now many Algerians left the country not only for economic, but also for political reasons, because of disagreement with the established regime in the country; mainly after independence, the families of those Algerians who served in the French army (harki) left. However, after the country gained independence, Algerians could no longer freely enter France: the agreement of April 10, 1964 introduced restrictions on immigration. In 1968, this agreement was updated, and the maximum number of Algerians who could immigrate to the former metropolis every year was fixed (35 thousand people). In 1971. it was adjusted, the annual quota was reduced to 25 thousand people. It is no coincidence that in 1947 the President of the country began his election campaign with a question about immigrants. All political parties

The research was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Natural Sciences as part of the research project "South-North Migration Processes. Lessons for Russia". Project N 06-02-02083a.

The topic of immigration to Western Europe is touched upon by many researchers. See for example: [Landa, 1999; Landa, 2001 (1); Landa, 2001 (2); Ponomarenko, 1997; Potemkin, 2002; Prozhogina, 1998; Prozhogina, 2001 (1); Prozhogina, 2001 (2); Ageron, 1980; Begag, 1993; Ben Jelloun, 1984; Benachenhou, 1996; Cesari, 1994; Etienne, 1989; Jazouli, 1992; Kaltenbach and Tribala, 2002; Kepel, 1987; Khosrokhavar, 1997; Lacoste-Dujardin, 1993; Leveau and Kepel, 1988; Ramadan, 1994; Sayad, 1999; Tribalat, 1995; Weil, 1995; Weil and Hansen, 1998; Wiewiorka and Ohana, 2001; Wihtol de Wenden, 1998; Wihtol de Wenden, 2001].

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they highlight the issue of employment, work and socialization of immigrants.

The lot of foreign workers was the dirtiest and lowest-paid work. Maghreb residents usually came to work in large enterprises, and they were allocated a hostel on the outskirts of cities such as Marseille and Paris, where settlements of immigrants from North Africa are formed. At the time, the French saw the influx of immigrants as more of a temporary phenomenon - mostly men who came to the country to work. However, by the end of the 1960s, the situation was changing: Maghreb emigrants, finding work and gaining a foothold in France, "writing out" to their families who remained overseas, put down roots in the former metropolis. The birth rate in immigrant families was significantly higher than that of the French - they had 5-6 children each (sometimes even 10 - largely due to the fact that large families could receive benefits). The number of immigrants is beginning to increase exponentially. The Maghreb diaspora is gradually developing, which acquires specific features peculiar only to it.

STAGES OF DIASPORA EVOLUTION

When considering the Maghreb diaspora in France, it is convenient to rely on the scheme of evolution of social organisms proposed by the Russian scientist Z. I. Levin: "The study of communities of living objects and social formations of different origin in different conditions leads to the conclusion that they equally go through several main stages in their development. The first is the stage of community survival, selection of the most viable elements in it; the second is its quantitative growth and structuring; the third is maturity, stable functioning; and the fourth is the stage of decline, disintegration, and dying" [Levin, 2001, p.40].

This model is best suited for studying the evolution of the Maghreb diaspora. First of all, it should be noted that several factors influenced the formation of self-consciousness of the diaspora. First, the French themselves promoted the emergence of "immigrant areas", "zones", determining the place of residence of newcomers mainly on the urban outskirts. Second, the social conditions of the immigrants were similar: the purpose of their arrival was to earn money, the place of work was French industrial giants, the place of residence was cheap "concrete neighborhoods", and the social environment was the same as for them, immigrants. Third, they were all bound by a common destiny and a common goal, their circle of contacts remained extremely limited, and the position of a" temporary " worker was supposed to guarantee them a loyal attitude on the part of French citizens.

According to Z. I. Levin, at the first stage of the diaspora's existence, " the more difficult it is for migrants at first, the sharper the civilizational differences between them and the indigenous people, the more severe the selection... It is on them, the first settlers, mostly people who are ready to overcome difficulties, that the fate of the diaspora, its viability, sustainability, and influence will depend. The effectiveness of community institutions depends on their activity, and the uniqueness of the diaspora's mentality depends on their qualitative composition - educational and professional level" [Levin, 2001, p.41].

The first Maghreb immigrants were mostly from the countryside, illiterate people who agreed to do any menial work for which they would be paid a small amount of money (but even this money could provide a tolerable existence for their families in their homeland). For the French, they were just a labor force that agreed to accept the conditions of the "owners" and did not claim much. Initially, immigrants from the Maghreb countries were not perceived as" equal " either socially, politically, or culturally. Even at the first stage of the formation of the diaspora, the Maghreb community was perceived not only as something alien to the host society, but also as something foreign to the host society.

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as standing a step below the French themselves. On the one hand, the immigrants themselves tried to live together in order to help each other; on the other hand, for most Maghrebians, the wall between them and the host society was insurmountable. Many did not speak French, and the culture of the host country was alien to them; and the French themselves avoided closer contact with immigrants.

The main purpose of the immigrant workers who came to France in the 1960s was to earn money. They were not embarrassed by their low status in society, they were ready to obey the rules dictated by the French side, since only such behavior gave them a chance to stay in the country and get a job. At that time, neither the state nor the immigrants themselves raised questions about the creation of any diaspora management bodies or associations that advocate for the rights of immigrants. And the very concept of "diaspora" was not used in relation to workers. At this stage, there is no need to talk about the homogeneity of the Maghreb diaspora. It was a mixture of diverse groups united by family and kinship ties. Immigrants tried to stick to "their own" - people from the same family, the village.

The second stage in the formation of the Maghreb diaspora in France was the emergence of a cohesive community.2 The emergence of such a community was facilitated by the mass arrival of families of North African workers. Immigration gradually became not only labor, but also family. Over time, the immigrant began to feel not just a "temporary worker", but to a certain extent a member of the society in which he was, lived, worked, where his children studied. With the appearance of children in the "concrete quarters", the question arises about the need to educate the younger generation in the spirit of Maghreb traditions and Muslim norms. The Maghreb community helps newly arriving immigrants (and they mostly came following the example of their relatives, relatives, and fellow villagers) to gain a foothold on French soil, get jobs and housing. But the primary function of immigrant communities for a long time remains the preservation of national identity and the "transmission" of its attributes to subsequent generations. The Maghreb traditions of a large family that supports a patriarchal way of life, cultivating customs of tribal solidarity, were sharply manifested in their own way in the diaspora, which became a kind of clan and had its own hierarchy. Usually, the head of the family worked in some industrial enterprise, while his wife stayed at home and managed the household. The social circle of such a family was limited to immigrants "like them." Often they did not even go outside of "their" neighborhood, spoke mostly in their native language, and their lifestyle was practically no different from the one they led at home.

Then the first organizations began to form that helped newly arrived immigrants and their families settle on French soil, get a job and look for housing. At this stage, an integral social formation is formed in the diaspora-a community whose main goal is to preserve national traditions and religion. The North Africans, whose culture and religion were so different from the French, were "strangers" in their host society. Muslim traditions, which were jealously preserved by the members of the community, were incomprehensible to the French. Moreover, by this time France had been a secular country for half a century, and the 1960s, with their numerous student demonstrations and the "sexual revolution", did not help strengthen religious traditions in society. "Emancipated" France accepted Liu on its territory-

2 A community (or communaute) is understood here as the formation of a certain social organism based on traditional foundations with its own hierarchy of social relations conditioned by religion and the gradual structuring of an ethno-confessional enclave.

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people who not only did not seek "liberation" from religious traditions, but also did their best to preserve them.

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, the diaspora grew steadily. During the years of the formation of the diaspora, France still received a constant and rather large influx of migrants from North Africa. Newly arrived immigrants joined the community: most of them came to live with relatives, who helped them at first with housing and getting a job. As a result, for many years the Maghreb community not only did not lose its ties with the motherland, but also maintained constant contacts with it, receiving information from newly arriving compatriots. Thanks to the constant influx of new immigrants, the diaspora became more and more numerous, and this allowed it to build an ever higher wall between its members and the autochthons. Immigrants tried to preserve their ethno-cultural identity in everything: in their way of life, in their clothes, and in their food, and immigrant neighborhoods began to resemble the cities of North Africa. Arabic was spoken everywhere, there were halal butcher shops at every turn, just like in their homeland, and men drank tea in cafes with an oriental atmosphere. For most immigrants, France remained only a country with better economic conditions, but not a new homeland.

At the peak of its development, the diaspora enters the third stage of formation - the stage of a mature community, which develops by the mid-1970s. At this time, the question of the future of the second generation of immigrants from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, i.e. those who were born or raised in France, was acute in France. It was then that the French realized that the very existence of Maghreb communities in the country is no longer temporary, but a permanent phenomenon, and therefore a law is issued to suspend the flow of immigrants, even within the framework of family immigration. In response to these measures, the first politicized organizations appeared among the Maghreb people in the 1970s, youth protest marches were held, and the diaspora as a whole began to respond to the social environment and socio-political context.

The North African diaspora in this period has already begun to divide into a kind of internal enclaves, and the stable self-identification of its members ("Maghrebin", "immigrant" and "laborer") ethnic and national differences (Berbers, Arabs, and Jews) that had already developed in the Maghreb began to become more complicated; however, by this time these intra-communal differences had not yet acquired much significance, and at this stage the community still looks like a single whole. It is at this stage of the community's development that the Maghreb people no longer become just immigrants for the French, but a special autonomous part of their society, a certain structural unit that has its own ethno-cultural features and features. In the 1970s, the community became a stable community with a developed social infrastructure, a system of cultural communications, and a well-established identity.

However, a strong adaptation of these people to the conditions of the host society, even those who closely communicate with the French, work for them or with them, is hindered by the fact that they still have a certain "second-rate"complex. It is caused by sociopsychological reasons that have a long history. In the minds of the average Frenchman, the Maghrebins remained for a long time "Arabs" (this is what they are most often called), "laborers", "ignoramuses", "illiterate" people, "bicots" ("goats"). A similar attitude towards the Maghreb people began to develop in the colonial period.

The Diaspora cannot but change and generate its own "defensive" reactions. When society rejects a person as an outsider, confessional consciousness is awakened and sharpened. The diaspora itself, its "circle", its outlying area, populated mainly by immigrants, serves as a kind of refuge for the Maghreb people in this situation. On the one hand, ethnic and confessional differences are contrasted-

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On the one hand, they serve as a pretext for humiliating, harassing, and discriminating against immigrants; on the other hand, they contribute to community cohesion and self - awareness.

Over time, however, the Maghreb diaspora begins to erode. At the same time, in addition to the purely geographical aspects of its evolution, the process of its internal "blurring" is also noticeable, which is especially characteristic of the second and subsequent generations of immigrants born in France, descendants of representatives of the main wave of immigration of the 1960s.The Diaspora is isolated from the host society, but is not completely isolated from it. At the level of both individual representatives of the Maghreb diaspora and entire generations, the dependence of the degree of adaptation on age is clearly traced.

Maghreb children go to school with French children, while their stay-at-home mothers do not speak French and try not to leave their neighborhood. The older the generation in the diaspora, the more difficult it is for them to adapt to the host society, the deeper the cultural and social gap between their representatives and the French. Of course, this gap is also very strong in the case of representatives of the younger generation of the diaspora who have already grown up in the West, largely due to the fact that parents are trying to instill in their children the "culture of their ancestors", to preserve their national identity at all costs. But objectively, there is a reduction in the cultural distance between young Maghrebians and French youth, since the main upbringing and education takes place in educational institutions of this country. Thus, the formation of new generations of immigrants consists of two elements: the old one (socio-cultural elements instilled by parents and the community) and the new one, connected with the norms of life of the host society. The existence along with the "old" and " new " indicates a reduction in the socio-cultural distance between the Maghreb community and the surrounding society, indicates to some extent the displacement of the ethno-cultural dominants of the diaspora and the introduction of the rules and principles of French society into the immigrant environment. At the same time, the changes that are taking place also reflect the degree of maturity of the community itself.

At present, it is probably too early to say that the Maghreb diaspora has entered the fourth of the stages described by Z. I. Levin, the stage of decline, when the self-consciousness of diaspora representatives and their perception of the world around them practically coincides with the self-consciousness and worldview of the host society. The Maghreb community is not yet ready to fully adapt to the Western way of life, and the influence of ethno-cultural traditions has not yet weakened. Nevertheless, we can already talk about a certain "plasticity" of the diaspora: people from this community, representatives of the second and third generations, are gradually merging into the life of European society, which is also supported in every possible way by state policy. Although the "old" (religious and cultural traditions) still prevails in the life of the diaspora at the current stage, and the diaspora itself is more like a compact ethnic group, nevertheless, the elements of a new identity that have emerged among the diaspora representatives are important for its further development. It begins to live according to new laws and norms, which already include elements of the norms of life in a "foreign" society.

HOST SOCIETY'S RESPONSE

In the 1970s, numerous studies aimed at identifying the possibility of integrating Maghreb immigrants into French society began to be conducted in French research centers that study immigrants and immigration. However, the initial results of these studies were disappointing. Social psychologists of that time noted that if you ask an "ordinary" Frenchman to draw a psychological portrait of a Maghreb resident, the first words will be " naked-

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laziness", "brusqueness", "pretense". This, however, is quite natural in the current situation: North Africans are practically classified as a "lower caste", and this cannot but cause a response. Aggressiveness, caused by the hostile attitude of the French towards them, becomes one of the ways of survival, sometimes the norm of behavior, mainly among young people, for whom such a life position is a way of both self-expression and self-affirmation.

Relations between French society and the Maghreb diaspora are relations that are burdened by historically formed stereotypes of each other's perception. Of course, the Maghreb people had to and still have to find the best options for survival in an alien ethnic and social environment; this remains a difficult task, despite the fact that during the years of colonialism, France managed to convey to them some features of its civilization. However, the cultural policies pursued by the colonizers mainly affected the urban population, and the influence of the Western system of values and the assimilation of the features of French civilization affected only a few-mainly representatives of the elite of Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan societies, who were educated in French schools and had the opportunity to communicate with the colonists. Most of the emigrants from the Maghreb countries come from poor areas, from rural areas, villages, and come to France as low-paid workers. For the most part, Maghrebin immigration was of an economic nature; however, the peculiarity of the relationship between the diaspora and the host country in this case was that, once in France, Maghrebins became a catalyst not only for economic and political, but also for socio-cultural and socio-psychological changes.

The emergence of a new education, alien to the local society, the Maghreb diaspora, largely disrupted the established course of life in the host country, causing various kinds of transformations. Subjectively, for French society, Maghrebians still remain an alien body; much more often than the willingness to accept and understand, the French have a reaction of rejection, sometimes conscious, sometimes unconscious, expressed in contempt and neglect. Even today, almost 50 years after the end of the Algerian War, certain prejudices persist even for those who came to work much later than the 1960s.

Sometimes the very physical image of an immigrant causes an unconscious rejection among local residents. They are mutually alien, not only because immigrants do not speak (or do not speak) French well, not only because of the difference between European logic and the behavioral psychology of a Muslim in a foreign world, but also simply because of the totality of all circumstances, which in themselves are significant for all those whose "characteristics" become such it is in a different life context. The very appearance of an Arab or Berber is a kind of symbol, a collection of all the qualities of the "other", "alien" that only an immigrant, a laborer, a resident of the suburbs, or a North African in general can possess a priori, as a kind of collective, negative image, often imposed by the media and superimposed on the "negative" memories of those Frenchmen who survived the period anti-colonial struggle.

Therefore, for the French, a Maghrebin is primarily an outsider, even when he does not compete with them in the labor market, and there is no official policy of discrimination against immigrants. In general, in France, at the" official level "it is not customary to talk about" racism "(everyday, of course, not" conceptual") - such a concept is avoided in government circles, giving more streamlined forms to what is associated with ethno-racial or ethno-confessional discrimination. However, the prejudice against the" alien " (formed with the help of the same media or cinema) penetrates deeply into the consciousness of an indigenous person, and thus has long been fueled.-

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there was a false sense of superiority of their own nation in comparison with all Africans in general.

In France, there are prejudices against the Maghreb people not only of an ethnic but also of a religious nature. For Christians, Islam is more often associated with aggression and obscurantism, and Muslims in European society are generally perceived as something opposed to the culture and social structure of European society. Muslims in the view of the French are "aggressive men" who oppress their wives and daughters, cultivate "masculinity" and are not able to integrate into a civilized society. I am particularly concerned about the situation of wives and daughters in Muslim families of French feminists who are simply "obsessed" with gender equality.

Meanwhile, the basic law governing the life of the North African community in France is the Koran, which gives Maghrebians a sense of not only ethnic, but also spiritual community. Islamic customs and traditions (often deliberately cultivated) play the role of a "protective curtain" for the Maghreb people in France, helping to resist psychological aggression coming from the host society. Maghreb children attend secular French schools, and it is no coincidence that some Maghreb families, for example, force girls to wear traditional Muslim dress and cover their heads with a headscarf.

The problems of integration of immigrants in the country began to be discussed a lot at the government level in the early 1970s. At the same time, during this period, the left preferred to use the term "insertion", while the right, which was in opposition at that time, preferred to use the term"assimilation" [Khellil, 1991, p.41]. At the same time, both mentioned the "social peculiarity of assimilation" of Germans, Poles, Spaniards and Italians. In other words, we were talking about immigrants of European origin, who quickly grew into French society, even despite a number of problems that they once faced here.

While in power, the "right" in its policies were forced to recognize the" cultural difference " between immigrants and the French. However, there were no really serious discussions about immigration during this period. It was mainly about practical issues, such as regulating the regime of entry and stay of foreigners in the country. The left, for its part, spoke of the need not only to administratively regulate the stay of foreigners in France, but also to formalize their legal status by law.

The texts of the laws that existed at that time did not specifically mention which policy the state chooses - integration or assimilation. The law of October 9, 1974, which for the first time (rather vaguely) formulated the principles of policy towards immigrants, emphasized that France seeks " either to allow the widespread integration of foreign workers who themselves wish it, at the national level, or to allow them to maintain socio-cultural ties with their native country.", so that later everyone can return to their homeland " [Khellil, 1991, p. 42]. In other words, "integration" was intended as an aid to the acquisition of French nationality and provided, to a certain extent, a break in relations between immigrants and their old homeland. Thus, the text of this law only summed up the logical outcome of the policy pursued in relation to the Maghreb people in previous years.

At the same time, the 1974 law already contrasted those who want to stay in the country, naturalize in France, fully integrate into society, with those who are going to leave for their homeland and maintain ties with the country from which they come. At the beginning of 1988, the socialists clarified their position: they argue that "integration" does not mean a complete rejection of the culture of their own people, but "its transformation in order to communicate with the culture of the host country in the most painless and effective way."

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[Khellil, 1991, p. 43]. The fact that the 1988 law mentions "culture of another people" shows that the authorities have begun to favor "inclusion" as the goal of their policy towards immigrants.

However, when discussing the problem of migrants, one should not dwell only on the legal side of the issue, as politicians often did. The French authorities, of course, cannot make decisions for those who are supposed to be assimilated. Assimilation is a process that can only be the result of a joint decision (made by the assimilators and those who are supposed to be assimilated) on whether it will take place or not; both French and Maghreb people should actively participate in it. Here we should not forget that this is no longer happening during the period of colonization, when the French tried to pursue a policy of assimilation aimed at acculturating the local population. In modern conditions, it was necessary to listen first of all to the opinion of representatives of the group that they intended to assimilate. And they were not going to passively accept this process: they should have expected either steps towards assimilation, or refusal to accept the conditions that French society provided for them.

For more than three decades, French society has often heard talk that if Maghrebians want to live in France, they need to "be like us, talk, drink, eat like us." The French have their own very clear vision of a "new Arab" who should forget his culture, his traditions and become "like everyone else". This is precisely the point of view of the right, which preaches the theory of the complete absorption of immigrants by French society, the complete rejection of immigrants from their "native" culture - that is, the rejection of everything that, in fact, is the difference between an immigrant and a Frenchman. At the same time, the rightists believe that the assimilation of Maghrebians, as well as the acquisition of French citizenship, should be perceived as the highest, unconditional good, the height of dreams, and for this, Maghrebians should be ready to do anything, including renouncing everything "their own", from each other and from themselves. At the same time, politicians are aware that assimilation has not yet become a reality; rather, it is an ideal goal that can be pursued, but the rational ways to achieve which are still unknown. Of course, such assimilation would be the easiest way to resolve all conflicts, but both the right and the left come to the same general conclusion: the Maghreb people, due to their mentality, religion and cultural characteristics, cannot yet be assimilated. Most Maghrebins who emigrate to France, even if they plan to stay in the country or have already stayed, are not ready for rapid and complete assimilation.

In many ways, the complexity of assimilation of the Maghreb people is predetermined by the presence of the"Islamic factor". Islamic culture is not just preserved, it is deeply rooted among those from the Maghreb countries who live permanently in France. Mass appeal to Islamic values and institutions increasingly serves as a socio-psychological (and more recently, political) reaction of the immigrant masses to the surrounding reality. For Muslims living in France, who come from the Maghreb, assimilation is in many ways precisely the threat of rejection of Islam and, even "scarier", the potential possibility of accepting Christianity. For a Muslim, Islam is an integral part not only of culture, but also of social and political life. Politicians who suggest that the Maghrebins accept everything that is part of French society and European civilization as a whole - laws, language, and culture-are largely associated with Christianity for the Maghrebians. Unfortunately, political figures who advocate assimilation do not take this into account.

Today, the population of France is an amalgam of various ethnic groups that have arrived here for many decades as part of a non-cultural movement.-

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how many migration flows, and their cultures. However, it is the "Arabs", as the French themselves call them, who find it most difficult to assimilate and adapt; immigrants from other European countries (Portugal, Italy, Poland, etc.) assimilated much faster in the country. Of course, in the process of assimilation there were also difficulties, but in the culture of these peoples there were many features that united them with the French, and first of all the Christian religion, which facilitated mutual understanding between the French and immigrants and the subsequent assimilation of the latter.

The situation with Maghreb residents differs radically from that of people from other European countries. Despite France's deliberate cultural policies dating back to the colonial period, the Maghreb is basically what it was before the French came, and this policy has only affected a small part of society. Most of the inhabitants of the region did not feel the influence of colonial assimilation. Moreover, the bulk of the Maghreb people who arrived in France were generally illiterate natives of the countryside, the most typical representatives of traditional Muslim society.

France, faced with new difficulties in assimilating the Maghreb people, decided to change the course of its policy, taking into account their special mentality, psychological characteristics, culture and religious traditions. Having abandoned assimilation, France in the early 1990s moved to attempts at integration. At the same time, official documents began to treat "integration" not as a cross between" assimilation "and" inclusion " of immigrants in French society (as was the case in the 1970s and 1980s, when the two concepts were sometimes interchangeable), but as a specific process that promotes active participation of all its members in the development of cultural relations. They have different ethnic, cultural, social, ethical, and psychological characteristics. The integration policy is designed to take into account all the characteristics and interests of members of society and provide each of its representatives with the opportunity to live freely in it, observing the established generally accepted rules.

Until the late 1980s, the State's immigration policy and integration policy for foreign citizens and stateless persons seeking asylum in France existed in parallel, i.e. they did not take into account each other's characteristics. It was only in 1991 that the Government began to take special measures aimed at creating a "French model of integration". The Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration and the Supreme Council for Integration were established, and relevant amendments and additions to the country's legislation were adopted.

Today, the French political model of integration is based on the principle of acquiring nationality, citizenship, 3 and joining the social contract ("right of the soil"); in this case, all forms of so-called ethnic identification are displaced from the state sphere to the private sphere (due to the secular nature of the French state). At the same time, it is assumed that the goal of the integration policy is the individual assimilation of each immigrant through school and other institutions.

In accordance with the French democratic tradition, public authorities should not discriminate on the basis of nationality in their policies. There are no provisions in French law that discriminate against foreigners in relation to French citizens. Foreigners use the same services

3 The Citizenship Code was introduced on October 19, 1945 (as amended in 1973, 1984, 1993, and 1998). It is based on both the" right of the soil " (jus soli), according to which a person is French on the basis of his birth and residence in France, even if his parents are foreigners as well as on the "right of blood" (jus sanguinis), according to which a person is a French citizen regardless of his place of birth and residence, if his parents are French.

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civil, social and economic rights, as well as other citizens of the country; political rights (active and passive suffrage) are reserved only for French citizens. However, as is often the case, state policy is one thing, but real life is another. In practice, in a number of areas, the French model is "stalling", even taking into account the fact that the difficulties of immigrants are not so much" ethnic " (foreign origin, national culture), but rather socio-economic in nature (origin from the lower classes, low qualifications).

MAIN TYPES OF ADAPTATION

The Maghreb community is gradually growing into the European society. If in the middle of the XX century. its existence was an economic necessity for the state, but today, having lost its main function, in the eyes of indigenous people it becomes rather a dangerous appendage - both from a political, social, and cultural point of view. Ethnic Maghrebians living in the country are increasingly remembered precisely in connection with the danger of "terrorism" and threats from Islamic organizations, in connection with their influence on traditional European culture, and-especially after the events of autumn 2005 - in connection with the threat of social instability caused by young people from suburban neighborhoods. From "economic immigrants", the Maghrebians who came to the country, as well as their children, representatives of the second and even third generations, turned into citizens of the country, but citizens who are different from the "others" and, moreover, declare themselves and their special place in French society.

Who are they, these young bers4 (as the second generation of children of Maghreb immigrants calls themselves)? Let's look at three main groups of young people of Maghreb origin who currently exist in French society. The author identifies these groups of young people based on his own field research conducted in 2003 - 2004 in France, which was based on interviews with representatives of the second generation of Maghreb immigrants.

"Citizens of the outskirts". Speaking about this first group of young people of Maghreb origin, it is worth noting that even if they consider themselves "French" (French citizens), "their France" is primarily associated with a specific territory. Having been born in this country, they identify themselves exactly with the place where they live. Says 20-year-old B.: "I am a Frenchman from Saint-Denis. I grew up here, and my family lives here. I know every nook and cranny here, all around me are my walls, my sidewalks that I've been walking on all my life. I'm out of here!" For these young people, belonging to their own neighborhood is more important than any connection with the homeland of their ancestors. For them, identifying themselves as a French citizen is equivalent to identifying with their neighborhood.

It is interesting that their family and the people they encounter on a daily basis play an important role in shaping their civic position. "Their territory", their quarter, consists primarily of relatives and family. At the same time, for these young people, the land of their ancestors is just a myth, a story. In "their world" there is no longer the country where the parents come from, since they exist next to them. Moreover, it is the place where they grew up that they associate their future with. Says 22-year-old A.: "I definitely see my future in this quarter (Saint-Denis - E. D.) I was born here, I like it here. Everything is mine here. I belong here, I belong in this world."

4 The word "ber" (beur) is formed from the word "Arab" (arahe) by rearranging syllables in reverse, in the slang language of the suburbs - "verlan" (verlan).

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In this group of young people, parents who came to work in France did not think of returning. The land of their ancestors is a thing of the past, and the society in which they found themselves is the most, and even the only, significant one for them. An interesting fact follows from the interviews conducted by the author: for young people who were born in France, but in a quarter populated mainly by immigrants (most often from the Maghreb countries), the place they call home is not national, but local. They have an attachment to their home, city, i.e. to their own "territory" and, accordingly, their own history ("I have my walls around me, my sidewalks"). "Their life", "their own history", "the history of their family", which has lived in this neighborhood for many years (many of their parents came at a young age), plays a greater role in their self-identification than the legend of their ancestors. But can we say that France has become their homeland, the country with which they identify themselves?

Their way of life is not "Europeanized" at all, and, as the respondents themselves noted, they found themselves in a rather difficult situation. Their family, having left their country, did not intend to forget either their language, customs, or religion. At the same time, living in a secular state, studying in a school where the emphasis is on Republican traditions, they found themselves in a situation of dissonance. The country where they live tries to raise them to be French citizens, and the family tries to distinguish them by reminding them that they must first be members of "their" community, speak Arabic and be Muslim.

Says N.: "My father insisted that I speak Arabic. He spoke only Arabic to us, and made a great effort to make sure that we spoke only that language at home. But my mother and I always spoke French, and so did my siblings. Eventually, my father also began to speak French to us. Now we speak French at home. With my grandmother, who lives with us, we have to speak Arabic because she doesn't understand it any other way. It turns out that I only speak Arabic to my grandmother, but only French to my parents."

Says N.: "I am often asked a question: "Who are you?" I can't answer it myself. Do I feel French or Moroccan? I was born here. I've lived here all my life. I know France much better than Morocco. I often go to Morocco on vacation. But I live here, here!"

Says A.: "The Arabic language is very complex. I thought I'd learn it. But for me, learning other languages - English and German-is more important now. It is difficult to learn Arabic, but I will still learn it. This is the language of Islam! Every Muslim should know Arabic."

For this group of young people, identifying with France does not mean denying Islam. But at the same time, Islam in their interpretation becomes something ordinary, everyday. "In Algeria, I wear a headscarf. Not here, because it's a secular state. People here don't like to see me wearing a headscarf. I don't force it on them. In Algeria, on the other hand, people want me to wear a headscarf. If some people want one thing and others want another, I can't impose my opinion on them. I will make it so that everyone is comfortable, " says 20-year-old N.

For these young people, the two worlds are interconnected and interchangeable. For most of the Bers in this group, it is just as natural to celebrate Christmas as it is to celebrate Muslim holidays. They note that Christmas is not a religious holiday for them, but a secular one. "It's just nice to get together at home with the whole family, bake a turkey and give each other gifts, "says N. and then continues:"Christmas is a family dinner, a Christmas tree, gifts." Young people themselves note that since the holiday has become commercialized, they do not see it as a religious meaning.

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One of the main problems that such young people have to face in "their quarter" is unemployment. They don't want to work in factories like their fathers, but they also don't have the proper education to get a more prestigious job. Their "France" is small, their world is narrow, their opportunities for self-realization are limited. I think that it was these young people who were the rebels who declared themselves in the fall of 2005. They knew who they could go up against, since "their France" is separated from the rest of France in their perception.

"Opportunists". At first glance, this group of young people is similar to the previous one, but there is an important difference. For the first group of young people, the world has a clear framework, life is subject to the rules of "their" world of the outskirts, and the rest of the world exists separately from them. However, it is unacceptable for" opportunists "to withdraw into their own world - rather, they seek to declare their belonging to a wider community and prove that they are" not like everyone else", but have equal opportunities and equal rights with others. Like the "citizens of the suburbs", claiming that they are "citizens like all Frenchmen", young people from this group still try to highlight their ethnic origin as a factor that distinguishes them from the rest of society, but does not prevent them from being a full member of it. Assimilation is equated to extinction in their perception. It is important for them, being "like everyone else", to have their own ethnic difference, and, considering themselves French citizens, they do not deny either the history of their people or its traditions, without limiting them to the private sphere. "I like the very idea of a Republic - freedom, equality, fraternity. I think that everyone has the right to live their own ideas, their own attachments. If we don't do anything bad to people, then who can stop it!", - says 28-year-old A.

Often, such young people are participants in protest marches and members of various associations, from civil to religious. Here is what D., a member of the French Muslim Association, says: "The association I am a member of represents the interests of French Muslims. I am an active participant in it, because my goals coincide with the goals of the association - to help Muslims grow into the life of French society."

For many of these young people, this ambivalent attitude (a French citizen, but different from others by ethnic origin) is based on their own life experience. Often confronted with cases of racism and discrimination, they are forced to move beyond the private sphere when it comes to their ethnic identity and into the public sphere. To be a citizen of the country, but at the same time to declare their differences - a kind of protection, a challenge to the French society, which should perceive them as they are. "I am glad that I am French (here we are talking about citizenship. - E. D.). I think that I am lucky to live in this country. We live here according to republican principles, we have freedom. Moreover, it made me a Muslim. In France, there are various structures that teach Arabic. So it wasn't difficult for me to become a Muslim while living in France. At the same time, I think it's even better that I live here and not in Morocco. Everything is more traditional there, and this scares me, " says 22-year-old F., a Moroccan by birth.

It is not necessary to identify the performances of these young people in the framework of various civil associations or protest marches with those riots of protest, riots in which young people from the first group participate. If for the first group of young people this protest means opposition to the" other " France, then for this group it is primarily speeches designed to achieve recognition of their rights in "their" state.

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The heritage of their parents, their life in French society, and the society that distinguishes them play an important role in shaping their identity. For these young people, it is equally important to participate in various events that emphasize their ethnic and religious affiliation, as well as to participate in elections. It is important for them to show that they exist in the public and political life of the state "as all" citizens of the country, but at the same time defend their rights and demonstrate the specialness of their history as children of immigrants.

As in the case of the first group, the origins of such identity should be sought in the history of their families. For the families of these young people, immigration was shrouded in a halo of tragedy: leaving their homeland, the small earnings of their fathers, the unwillingness of their parents to integrate into the host society, unemployment, and racism. Many noted that their family had never left the immigrant community. Often the mothers did not speak French at all, and for many of these families, Arabic remained the main spoken language in the family.

These young people grew up in a family that has not changed much during their time in immigration and strictly follows their traditions and rituals; the family becomes a source of certain pressure for them. While in the first group of respondents it is possible in principle to celebrate Christmas (even if it becomes secular and even commercialized), among families of this group this is not done. The traditions of our ancestors remain almost unchanged. In such families, the ties with Algeria (Tunisia, Morocco) are quite strong, the children often went there for holidays and led the same lifestyle as their relatives in their historical homeland. "Now at home we already speak French. Previously - only in Arabic. When we were very young, we only spoke Arabic. When I started school, I started speaking French at home. My mother has gradually learned, she understands French, but she answers me in Arabic. Dad already knew a little French."

But even with such a strict traditional upbringing, for many of these young people, religion is still a choice, and not just a tradition that must be strictly followed. Those who consider themselves Muslims try not only to fulfill all the requirements of their religion, but also to influence in some way that "their religion" is recognized and accepted by French society. Here again we can see their dual identity: on the one hand, their commitment to Islam, on the other - the protection of their rights in French society on the rights of its citizens.

However, do not assume that these young people blindly obey the family and traditions. All of these respondents emphasized their right to choose whether or not to be a Muslim, whether or not to follow family traditions. For these young people, the republican principles in accordance with which they want to build their lives are equally important. The main thing for them is not the separation, but the joint coexistence of what could only be private (family traditions and religion), and what is rightfully considered public (citizenship).

"Cosmopolitans". Among young people of Maghreb origin, there are also those who put their individuality at the forefront. For them, belonging to a particular country, society, or culture is primarily the result of choice, and not something inherited. For representatives of this group, it is important to express their own and only their belonging to a particular country; it is impossible for them to think in terms of "their" community. The main thing for them is an individual position that does not depend on their family, their immigrant community, or the country in which they live.

They consider themselves the personification of a mixture of cultures, traditions and values, and at the same time point out the uniqueness of each individual, in each of which one or another component may predominate. It is important for them not to focus on

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in your" own " community, and look for the features that each of them has. For these young people, geographical belonging to a particular country is not a decisive factor. Two countries (France and the country where their ancestors came from) are equivalent for them - they just live in one country "by coincidence" , and in the other they spend holidays and visit the rest of their family there.

For representatives of this group, the emotional factor is more important. They consider themselves "their own" where there are people they love, where they feel good. "We are happy in France, we have everything we need here. France also has its own problems, but compared to other countries, they are much smaller. France is a very developed country. In another country, we wouldn't have the same rights as here. And this is a big plus, " says M.

Many of the respondents who can be attributed to this group noted that France is primarily a "convenient country". But this does not mean that they feel that they belong to this country, that they identify with it.

Islam is primarily a free choice for these young people. They usually seek to learn more about religion, rather than submit to the traditions and rituals imposed on them in childhood. Among the young people who can be attributed to this group, there are quite a few students. Some of them choose a topic for their research related to the traditions and religion of their ancestors, while others choose subjects related to the problems of the Maghreb community - unemployment and discrimination, racism and xenophobia.

These young people, under the influence of various life circumstances, "left" the Maghreb community, and their past remained more of a story for them. They do not try to show off their ethnic roots, as young people from the second group do, but they do not hide them either. They are more likely not to participate in any protest marches organized by representatives of the Maghreb community, but they will respond enthusiastically to the call to demonstrate against the war in Iraq. Young people feel that they belong to the whole world, and if their life is connected with the Maghreb community, it is mainly in the professional sphere (scientific, public), where they act not so much as its representatives, but as experts who know the issue well. It is possible that representatives of this group can be called "successfully integrated" into European society, namely European, since among these young people I did not meet those who would call themselves "French". Being successful (good job, many have a good education) representatives of bers, they remember the difficulties that they had to overcome just because they were from their own environment. Here one can "blame" both the Maghreb community, which hardly lets go of its children, and the French society, which has not fully accepted them as equal members. The stories of all respondents are different, but one thing is clear: they have no desire to belong to either society, so they choose "themselves", revealing their individuality to themselves.

* * *

In conclusion, I would like to note that when considering the Maghreb community, it is impossible to speak of a single type or image of an "Arab" living in France. Based on the history of the Maghreb people's appearance on the territory of the country, from the long-term policy of the state, and the problems of the Maghreb community itself within European society, we can talk about a variety of factors that influenced the formation of a particular "character" of the Maghreb people, their self-consciousness and place in European society.

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When we talk about "Arabs" in France, we mean a great many different people, whose destinies are formed in different ways, depending on different life circumstances. And it cannot be said that a young man of Maghreb origin, born in an immigrant neighborhood, will necessarily become a criminal or terrorist. Nor can the French policy towards immigrants from this community be reduced to a series of failures.

Currently, both experts and immigrants themselves recognize the existence of a situation of clash and crisis of identities. However, based on the observations of French scientists, as well as from the interviews I conducted, we can say that a holistic model of self-expression and self-perception is gradually forming in the minds of young people of North African origin. Both the host society and the immigrant environment are currently undergoing interrelated transformations based on the interaction of different civilizational foundations. Despite all the evidence of the process of globalization and mixing of cultures, it is impossible not to notice and hear the voices of a new generation demanding respect for their right to "specialness".

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