Local Practices vs National Models of Integration? The Management of Ethno-religious Diversity in an Urban Context

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines the ways in which ethnic and cultural diversity is concretely managed in the city of Marseille, a metropolitan area located in France, a country that academic literature defines as assimilationist. Based on a series of 26 semi-structured interviews and on the analysis of municipal archives, it reveals that ethnic, cultural and religious organizations are essential actors in local political life in Marseille. On one hand, in order to manage their culturally heterogeneous city, municipal officials rely on alliances with community leaders to maintain legitimacy among the local population. On the other hand, community leaders demand symbolic gestures of cultural recognition from the mayor in exchange for their political support. This paper, inspired by conceptual tools developed by Pierre Bourdieu, builds an innovative theoretical framework for analysis of the ‘social field of multiculturalism.’ In the process, it sheds light on strategies of negotiation and competition among different local actors in the daily management of diversity. Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Michèle Rubirola was elected mayor of Marseille on July 4, 2020. Benoît Payan (Socialist Party), succeeded Rubirola a few months later. Requests for interviews with the new municipal administration were made, but without success. It will be interesting to update the results of this research n the future, and to see how the relations between local politicians and community leaders will evolve after the election of Payan.2 The municipal council has general competence under common law to regulate through its deliberations the affairs of the municipality, under the terms of Article L. 2121-29 of the General Code of Local Authorities.3 Both coders used the same coding book, in order to achieve standardized coding and limit individual interpretations. The coding process, based on the grounded method theory (Corbin & Strauss, Citation2012), took place in three steps. A first step of ‘open coding’ consisted of identifying the various themes that emerged from the raw data. Our corpus was, therefore, read entirely, and the main themes identified were assigned to corresponding nodes. A second step of ‘axial coding’ consisted of clarifying the relationships between different nodes. Following the thematic analysis process developed by Van Dijk (Citation1993), the nodes were grouped around similar themes, which made it possible to form categories that corresponded to the results obtained. Third, an intercoder fidelity test was performed using Cohen's kappa coefficient. The result of 0.79 is considered ‘substantial’ (Landis & Koch, Citation1997). Finally, our research findings are presented according to the most salient elements that emerged from the coding of our sources. List of nodes (subnodes in parenthesis): Africa, antisemitism, career, City council, crime, community leaders, community recognition, contribution of the community to the city (from a cultural point of view / from an economic point of view), cultural richness of the city, diversity, islam (mosque / islamophobia / others), far right (National Front, Rassemblement National, far right in Europe, opposition to the far right), festivals / activities organized by the City Council (Vivacité / gala / meetings / ceremony), French Republicanism (model of integration / laïcité), history of migration to the city, poverty, peace and conviviality, perception of the city by the media, racism / discrimination, recognition of past prejudice (Armenian genocide / holocaust / slavery / ‘pieds noirs’ / harkis / others), soccer, terrorist attacks (Charlie Hebdo 2015 / Paris 2015 / 9/11).