The whiteness of cultural boundaries in France

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes to explore French cultural policy to show how the white boundary making is embedded in the ‘routine structures’ of cultural life. It takes the example of the implementation of national cultural policy as a means of seeing how the privilege of the majority operates. Against a formal insistence that the French definition of citizenship and equality does not leave room for the discussion of visible identities, it argues that immigration issues in relation to culture are relevant loci for the numerous instances of boundary drawings that it helps highlighting. Specifically, it shows how in the process of designing and implementing cultural policies, administrative officials have defined culture as artistic, universal and secular throughout the years. As a consequence of which, the privileged currently take part in the definition of artistic norms, while migration-related minorities have to justify for the social benefit of any of their artistic initiative.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural policy
• arts
• immigration
• decolonisation
• historical enquiry
• France

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. For more details on archival records see (Escafré-Dublet 2014, 243–250).

2. The purported invisibility of Portuguese migrants is often interpreted as a sign of their integration in post-war France (Cordeiro 1999).

3. « …le pays conquis revêt (…) la nationalité du pays au profil duquel l’annexion est faite » Décision D., 1862-II-180 de la Cours d’Alger.

4. Sources: Archives of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, 1959–1969: National Archives, 1995 0514, articles 1–11.

5. Sources: Archives of the Fund for the cultural intervention of the Ministry of Culture, 1971–1983: National Archives, 1985 0599, articles 1–165 and 2006 0272, articles 1–29; oral history interviews with administrative officials in the Ministry of Culture (n = 6).

6. Sources: Archives of the Direction for population and migration of the Labour Ministry, 1974–1981, 1985 0095, articles 1–5 and 1987 0440, articles 12–176 and 1989 0108, articles 91–98; oral history interviews with administrative officials in the Labour Ministry (n = 5).

7. Although only the term pluricultural (pluriculturel) can be found in official documents.

8. Sources: Archives of the Direction for cultural development of the Ministry of Culture, 1981–1986; interviews with administrative officials in the Ministry of Culture (n = 6).

9. Sources: Archives of the Social Action Fund, 1981–1996; interviews with administrative officials in the Social Action Fund (Ministry of Social Affairs).