Immigration & Assimilation in France: How the Murder of Samuel Paty Exposes France's Failure to Assimilate New Immigrants

Abstract

Historically, France has experienced and integrated many periods of immigration, although France observed a shift in the origin of immigrants following World War II, with the majority of new immigrants hailing from former colonies and the Maghreb, a region in North Africa. Being predominantly Muslim, these immigrants represented a stark contradiction between religious identity and the heavy push for Republican secularism from the French government, resulting in isolated immigrant communities and rising tensions between those communities and the French state. This research investigates the implications of the emphasis on secularism and assimilation by the French state on these new Muslim immigrant communities. As seen from the riots in the banlieues of Paris as well as the murder of Samuel Paty, the implications of these tensions are extremely relevant in society today. Using the death of Paty as a case study for examining the cultural divide that exists between Muslim immigrants and French society, this thesis portrays the characteristics of France’s attempts to assimilate new immigrants as well as discusses the outcomes of those attempts. Beginning with a focus on French immigration policy, this research compares the shifting politics on immigration to the Muslim experience in France to demonstrate the tensions between immigrant communities and French society. This is contrasted by the French opposition to multiculturalism, which is so prevalent in French society that many politicians refuse to discuss it, through L’Affaire de Foulards.