Epilogue: Shaping the Nation through Civic Integration: A Postcolonial Perspective on Paradoxical Policies

During the 2000s, immigration and integration policies of several countries in Europe and North America gave rise to the formulation of a new paradigm of public action, called “civic integration”. These policies, such as citizenship tests and ceremonies, civic training or the signing of integration contracts, are widely presented as marking what is seen as a “civic turn”. This term implies a revised policy configuration characterized by the imposition of stronger constraints on foreigners in terms of residence permits or citizenship acquisition, and by the promotion of an increasingly “thick” concept of citizenship, emphasizing collective identity and belonging to the national community. In this special issue, we examine two cases that have rarely been studied in light of the “civic integration” paradigm: France and Canada. Through analyses aligning empirical and theoretical research and combining sociology, anthropology, law, philosophy and political science, this special issue seeks to understand if the reconfigurations attributed to a “civic turn” operate in these two specific contexts. It also interrogates these reconfigurations’ consequences both for migrants (in terms of inclusion/exclusion) and for the receiving society (in terms of its conception of “us”).