Claiming place and legibility in the republic [Ressource électronique] : the making of Berber citizens in France / Allison Joy Clarkin

Bibliogr. p. 220-231

Doctor of philosophy : Political and social science : Political and social science of The new School of social research : 2005

The sovereign power of the nation to police who has the right to live or work within its territory is experienced and undone everyday by Muslim immigrants and their children who struggle to find jobs and a safe place to raise their families in France while facing social, economic and political discrimination fueled by notions of "cultural incompatibility." The reality of growing levels of unemployment in France converge with fears about the "danger" Islam poses to "French tradition and values" to carve out under intense national anxiety the boundaries of citizenship and belonging for these immigrants and citizens. Using ethnographic methods, this dissertation reveals how these boundaries of belonging are crafted, lived and subverted among state and quasi-state funding partners of local immigrant associations, state welfare agents and agencies, and the members and leaders of the Association de Culture Berbere in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. Through daily actions and discourses such as ritualized homages, organized protests, legal immigration assistance, or racialized claims of their distinction as "Kabyles," members and leaders of this association mb up against the boundaries of citizenship and reshape them. In their daily challenge to how "immigrants" are cast and cast off into specialized discursive arenas where ethnic identity and histories are erased and vilified under the rubric of "foreigner," "Muslim immigrant," or "homegrown terrorist," they work at tearing down the faqade of an indivisible and equally treated citizenry in ways that foster as well as contest racialized distinction and historical privilege in France Reproduced