Immigrants’ descendants in France and Germany: processes of social distancing and modes of participating in the labour market
Despite some similarities in the social situations of the descendants of Turkish immigrants in Germany and those of North-African immigrants in France, the two groups are not subject to the same institutional, economic, or symbolic processes of social distancing. This study uses micro-data from France and Germany (SOEP and Enquête Histoire Familiale EHF) to show that these young people develop different modes of participating in the labour market. It stresses the influence of particular institutional and economic regulations and constraints on their modes of participation: First, the French and the German labour markets do not present the same opportunities and constraints to working class young people. Second, the “Other” is used differently in the French and German conceptions of integration, leading to different effects in institutional, political and symbolic terms. The results on educational achievement indicate that while young people of Turkish origin in Germany experience severe exclusion at school, young people of North-African origin in France experience polarization between those who manage to reach higher education and those who don’t. The result for the Turkish youth is a situation of relegation to specific positions in the labour market and of “quasi-invisibility”. In contrast, the better educational attainment of the descendants of North-African immigrants in France leads to their higher visibility at the different levels of the social hierarchy, making them more subject to discrimination as practice of social distancing. Paradoxically, however, their inclusion as French citizens does not lead to a better or more stable work situation. The adoption of the French universal principles among the youth of North-African origin and their belief in the Republican promise of equality leads precisely to their frustration. This experience presents a stark contrast to the early and ongoing experience of “Otherness” among the young people of Turkish origin in Germany. The societal consequences of these processes of social distancing thus differ markedly between both countries.
Tucci, I.