Immigration and the Republican Tradition in France

International audienceFrance has a longer history of immigration than any other country in Western Europe, and French immigration policy has been shaped by demographic forces—the early demographic transition and stagnation of the French population in the 19th century—and by the republican tradition dating from the French Revolution, which is strongly nationalist, universalist, and secular (laïcque). After World War II, France moved quickly to import foreign labor (immigrant workers) to boost economic reconstruction, first from neighboring countries and eventually from former colonies in North and West Africa. With the economic shocks of the 1970s, the French government tried to stop immigration, but immigration continued at historically high levels, fed by family and refugee immigration, and the sources of immigration became more diverse, leading to a large, settled population of Muslim immigrants from former colonies