Postcolonial Minorities in Britain and France : In the Hyphen of the Nation-State

Why is it that certain minorities in Europe are seen as a threat to social cohesion?

Most literature views the issues raised by minorities through either the lens of immigration or the assimilation paradigm. In Postcolonial minorities in Britain and France, Shailja Sharma offers an alternative, redefining the discourse of ‘us-versus-them’ by locating its origins in this schism between nation and state. Modern migrants find themselves caught between these two entities – their presence and status is regulated by the state but their level of assimilation and their place in society is influenced by the nation. Though the nation is not a structured entity like the state, it is rooted in a set of discourses – historical, political and cultural – that are normative and identifiable. These national discourses, Sharma argues, are ultimately more important than state action in determining whether minorities are integrated into and eventually assimilated into the nation.

Postcolonial minorities in Britain and France combines comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to discourses to consider questions of national identity, values, the place of religion, secularism and public spaces. It will be of tremendous interest to students and scholars of race, religion and migration studies.