The Acceptance of Racial Minorities in France: Individual versus Issue-Level Variation
40 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2012 Last revised: 27 Jul 2012
Date Written: 2012
Abstract
This article examines the willingness of majority individuals in France to accept black minorities as part of their community. Much of existing literature focuses on individual-level explanations for majority attitudes towards minority groups. For example, education, exposure to minorities, and various personality and ideological dispositions may all influence whether or not majority individuals feel close to minorities. In this article, I do not challenge any of these relationships but instead propose an alternate way of conceptualizing the conditions under which members of the majority accept minorities as part of their community. I argue that majority attitudes towards minorities vary according to specific issues. Majority individuals may be willing to accept minorities as part of their community in politics but not in business, or vice versa. To account for which issues are more likely to generate positive or negative attitudes towards minorities I emphasize the extent to which individuals feel specific issues are important for the future of the nation. When issues are more important they should correspond to less acceptance of minorities and when issues are less important they should correspond to more acceptance. This framework opens several new avenues for research on racial attitudes.
Keywords: identity, race, France, Europe, minorities, boundaries
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation