As part of my doctoral research, I consider minority negotiations of citizenship, identity, and collective history through participation in cultural associations in France. The French case study exemplifies many of the tensions nation-states face in the contemporary, globalized world. France struggles with translating its official philosophy of humanist universalism into practices for managing and benefitting from its own diversity. This is particularly true of former colonial populations, and these minority communities are often viewed as threatening the ideal coherence of the French nation. Mutual distrust and misunderstandings within the national community are evident in official and public discussions about minorities and social relations. This situation has contributed to varied responses by minorities, including violent outbursts, efforts at assimilation, increased factionalism, and attempts at constructive communication. The creation and maintenance of minority cultural associations represents one attempt to create forums for discussion and communication and ameliorate the situation. Cultural associations are official organizations. Registered with local authorities and eligible to receive public funds, associations often serve as mouthpieces for their communities. In this role they are touted as places where social discussions can take place, offering the possibility of collaborative action. Alternatively, when attempts at integration fail or are deemed unsatisfactory, cultural associations are used to reinforce minority identity and group cohesion, which has been understood by some as a sign of rejection of the larger state and society. Yet the strengthening of minority identity and integration of that minority into French society are not necessarily mutually exclusive: associations serve as platforms for participation in national discussions and insulate members from elements of society perceived as hostile. Association leaders use this ambiguity as a strategy to maintain legitimacy with both funding agencies and their minority constituency. Three minority populations – the French-North African, Pied-Noir, and Harki communities – are the focus of my doctoral research. These populations share a common geography and history while representing a range of national and ethnic origins, historical relationships with the French state, and contemporary social and economic conditions. These groups are heavily implicated in current national discussions on citizenship, identity, and collective history. They vary in their level of participation in and approach to these conversations. This paper presents select findings from twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Grenoble and Aix-en-Provence to explore the role of cultural associations in negotiations of culture and identity in France.

This paper explores Islamic websites providing normative content for European Muslim minorities. It focuses on fatwas issued in matters of family law and presents the ways in which authorities associated with these sites deal with the conflicting areas between Islamic law and European legal systems. Furthermore, it discusses how these concepts are incorporated into European legal frameworks through the arbitration tribunals. The Internet has introduced substantial innovation in both production and consumption of Islamic knowledge. This is particularly relevant to European Muslim communities, where experiences of cultural displacement and negotiations on hybridity and authenticity are at the heart of contemporary life. There are thousands of sites providing specific “Islamic” content, ranging from fatwas to video sermons. This paper is based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of six major websites providing fatwas and other normative content to European Muslim minorities. It stems from a larger, compound research project on the production of contemporary Islamic knowledge in Europe, during which more than 600 fatwas have been analyzed between 2006 and 2009. This paper discusses fatwas related to marriage and divorce, and examines the different ways in which they deal with possible conflicts with European legal systems. All the fatwas were analyzed in English and/or Arabic, together with a detailed examination of the context and background of each of the authorities in question. Essentially, this paper argues that the underlying logic behind the fatwa-issuing websites emphasizes the role of the Self, the privatization of faith, and the increasing insistence on religion as a system of values and ethics. It demonstrates that the popularity of fatwa-issuing websites converges with the broader transformation of contemporary religiosity, which promotes a ready-made and easily-accessible set of norms and values that might order daily lives. Furthermore, this paper analyzes how these concepts are later incorporated into European legal systems through the institution of arbitrational tribunals. In such case, the arbiter judges the dispute according to Islamic law, yet his decision is enforceable through civil law courts. This paper demonstrates how these tribunals effectively redefine both Islamic family law and European principle of the territoriality of law simultaneously. Finally, this paper argues that the fatwa-issuing websites and arbitrational tribunals reinforce culturally dominant social networks and, while fueling individualization and privatization of faith, they simultaneously assert conformity and compliance with established religious authorities.

This paper is an attempt to develop a macrotheoretical framework for explaining the variance in minority integration patterns in advanced democracies. The paper identifies four major dimensions of minority integration, and hypothesizes that integration is unsuccessful to the extent minorities face exclusion on these dimensions. On the legal-political dimension, the paper focuses on state-minority relations, examines how assimilative or exclusionary policies impact the integration of minorities. On the social, cultural, and economic dimensions, it focuses on majority-minority relations, and investigates the influence of exclusionary behavior on minority integration.