French or Foreign? The Algerian Migrants’ Status at the End of Empire (1962–1968)

Abstract

French or Foreign? The Ambiguities of Algerian Migrants’ Status and Rights at the End of Empire (1962–1968)

While the idea of clandestine immigration generally conjures images of recent immigrants and popular xenophobic reactions to recession and soaring unemployment, the case of Algerians in the 1960s suggests otherwise. Rather than focusing on irregular migration since the trente glorieuses went bust, this essay analyses the complex place of Algerians in the metropole immediately following the Algerian War (1954–1962). It argues, through a study of shifting policies and practices, that the process of decolonisation effectively limited Algerians’ legal, social and cultural membership in the nation. By examining several concrete ways France navigated the transition from the colonial to post-colonial era, this essay illustrates how a racialised category of citizens, known as français musulmans d'Algérie (FMA) before 1962, became a category of foreigners unlike any other.