One Nation Indivisible: Contemporary Western European Immigration Policies and the Politics of Multiculturalism

Diaspora 4:1 1995 One Nation Indivisible: Contemporary Western European Immigration Policies and the Politics of Multiculturalism Maud S. Mandel University of Michigan L'Europe des immigrés. Dominique Schnapper. Paris: Editions François Bourin, 1992. Since World War II, policies with regard to immigrant populations have changed dramatically and repeatedly throughout Western Europe. From 1945 to 1955, Western European nations absorbed an enormous number of refugees uprooted during the war. Until the 1970s, governments did not limit migration, nor did they formulate comprehensive social policies toward these new immigrants . Indeed, from the mid-1950s until 1973, most Western European governments, interested in facilitating economic growth, allowed businesses and large corporations to seek cheap immigrant labor abroad. As Georges Tapinos points out, "For the short term, the conditions of the labor market [and] the rhythm of economic growth . . . determined the flux of migrations" (422). France, Britain , Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands welcomed the generally young, single male migrants as a cheap labor force, treating them as guest workers. As a result, few governments instituted social policies to ease the workers' transition to their new environments . Policies began to change in the 1960s when political leaders, intent on gaining control over the haphazard approach to immigration that had dominated the previous 20 years, slowly began to formulate educational measures and social policies aimed at integrating newcomers. It was only in the mid-1970s, however, after the oil crisis, the economic recession, and industrial reconstruction weakened the demand for immigrant labor, that Western European governments began to limit the numbers of arrivals while actively striving to integrate those already installed. Many immigrants had brought their families and customs with them, forming highly visible communities in countries unused to such cultural diversity. Immigrants, once perceived as an economic solution, were now viewed as a social problem . While specific policies differed according to national context, the trend across Western Europe was the same. For the first time 90 Diaspora 4:1 1995 in 20 years, questions about the accommodation or even absorption of diverse populations and their cultural differences became a serious concern for Western European political leaders. Governments, fearful of the impact of demographic and cultural diversity on the body politic, instigated measures aimed at integrating immigrant minorities. Thus, even as Western European populations became increasingly heterogeneous, states stressed the need for homogeneity, actively intervening in the process ofimmigrant acculturation. Such policies, designed to control and to manage diversity, were, at base, an attempt to ensure the continued hegemony of national culture— a hegemony perceived as essential for maintaining national unity and strength throughout the various nations of Western Europe. In her comparative study L'Europe des immigrés, Dominique Schnapper argues that since the mid-1970s, immigration policies throughout Western Europe have become increasingly undifferentiated . This convergence has arisen, she contends, from common economic and social problems facing Western Europe, as well as from a shared commitment to democratic values in all the "countries of immigration." While Schnapper acknowledges differences in the political histories of immigrations and particular national immigration policies, she contends that these differences are insignificant when compared to the growing tendency for Western European nations to adopt what she calls "la politique d'intégration." Incorporating immigrants into national economic and social life, she argues, has become inevitable as immigrants, often refusing to return to their native countries, seek to increase their participation in their adopted lands. These countries, committed to democratic values, can neither expel their nonnative populations nor limit their civil rights. Yet, Schnapper insists, a proliferation of poorly integrated immigrant collectivities is not a viable option either, as such groups may pose a threat to what she calls the "national project." Indeed, a concern over national unity dictates much of Schnapper 's analysis. Directeur d'études en sociologie at the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris, Schnapper has written extensively about migration and integration throughout France and Europe. Her other recent works, such as La France de l'intégration: Sociologie de la nation en 1990 and La Communauté des Citoyens: Sur l'idée moderne de nation, reflect this interest, as does her recent participation as a member of Marceau-Long's...