France has experienced mass migrations for over one and a half century, but only recently have the French acknowledged the country's ethnic diversity. The perception of the importance of immigration in French society is linked to the increased visibility of some ethnic groups within the social space. The process has become so widespread that it may evoke an 'ethnic fragmentation' of society. This fear shows up especially in relation to the residential concentration of stigmatized ethnic minorities, in so-called ghettos. The aim of this paper is to identify the various mechanisms underlying these concentrations and to analyze the impact of policies against segregation on immigrants' housing opportunities. Our position is that public policies are meant to reduce concentration in the attractive part of the housing structure. One consequence of these policies is that segregation of certain ethnic minorities becomes stronger in the most deprived part. This ethnically oriented segregation is not given enough attention by national authorities. We argue that the residential careers of stigmatized ethnic minorities are largely determined by institutional discrimination, which exacerbates the widespread problem of prejudice in the housing market.

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ghettos social segregation Acculturation immigrant population France