Upward mobility of children of Algerian's immigrants in France: between inclusion and exclusion

Résumé du document

Eric Besson, the French minister of Immigration, triggered a debate recently centering on the question of the national identity. This debate is supposed to give a definition of the meaning of being French. This debate highlights the lack of integration that some minorities living in the French territory are confronting with. Among them, there are children of Algerian immigrants.
In this essay, we will try to access the occupational integration of the children of immigrants in France, who are referred to as the so-called "second generation". Our essay will only focus on the second generation of Algerian immigrants. Both sets of parents of these children were born and were raised in Algeria for a long time. Also, Algeria is interesting to study because of the strong link that colonization had created between these two countries. During this period, a wide number of Algerian immigrants were allowed to enter the French territory if they could work. Hence, we will try to see if the integration of the second generation of Algerian immigrants existed or not.

Extraits

[...] According to the theory of the School of Chicago, the hostility towards immigrants is only true for the first generation. Then, thanks to school the integration of the second generation begins and the hostility is less accentuated. Nevertheless, Gordon shows in the 1960s that this hostility towards the first generation is still true but has also an impact on the second generation. And, recent researches show that this hostility toward the second generation is utterly accentuated toward the second generation of Algerian immigrants. [...]

[...] These discriminations are more significant toward children of Algerian immigrants and the phenomenon is still continuing nowadays. The second reason to highlight is that the formation and the diplomas that this second generation obtained didn't permit them to enter the labour market because it was not professional sectors where the employment supply was important. They are called “intellos précaires” (precarious intellectuals) doing several jobs under their qualifications and low payed[15]. The majority of these “intellos précaires” are women. That is to say that their integration failed and that the upward mobility that they hoped didn't occur. [...]

[...] Except Rachida Dati, Azouz Begag or others children of Algerian immigrants, few members of this second generation succeeded on the political scene having a significant power within the French State administration. This is what two researchers called the “diversité cosmétique”[14]. The second generation is used by politicians to win elections and to be appreciated from the population but they are rarely in place of having the real power. The reasons of this persistence of inequalities If we seek the reasons of this persistence of inequalities, we could explain it by several factors which have several impacts on the upward mobility of the second generation. [...]

[...] Indeed, when we point out the model of integration we are not only talking about the socio-economic aspects but also of a political integration. So, the main point is to know if the second generation of Algerian's immigrants have succeeded in their economic life but also if they are largely at least a minimum- represented into the political life and especially within the French public function or administration. The educational level of this second generation As we already mentioned, education is a strong engine to promote the upward mobility of immigrants' children. [...]

[...] So, we will try to see if the integration of the second generation of Algerian's immigrants happened or not? Finally, this essay will try to analyze if for the second generation of Algerian's immigrants the integration into the French society is complete or not. To reach this aim we will focus our research on the upward mobility which is defined as degree to which an individual's family or group's social status can change throughout the course of their life through a system of social hierarchy or stratification. [...]