Fitting into France: Identity, Culture and Social Differentiation of African-Descent Youth.

To examine identity and social integration, this research asked young people of immigrant African descent: Where do you fit in French society? This research uses qualitative data gathered from in-depth interviews with first- and second-generation African-descent immigrant youth, ages 16 to 25 years old to examine cultural and structural aspects of integration. In France, where one in seven children comes from a family with immigrant parents, the implications of integration are immense. I find that culture matters in identity formation and as it patterns integration and outcomes through religious affiliation. And I also find that structure is salient, because an immigrant outsider status is conveyed to young people of immigrant African descent regardless of citizenship through racial status, and this immigrant outsider status shapes both educational and labor market outcomes. This research amplifies the sentiment of young people of African descent in France who report feeling 'French on the inside' at the same time that they navigate a social fabric that translates their visible minority status into lowered life chances overall. At the same time, this ethnic penalty is felt differently due to perceived cultural factors such as religion. Those of African and Maghrebin descent report that their skin color and perceived immigrant status are symbols that are readily misinterpreted into an outsider status meaning that they do not hold true French Republican cultural norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]