A new article in International Migration Review, in collaboration with Emily Laxer and Patrick Simon, and entitled “National cultural frames and Muslims’ economic incorporation: a comparison of France and Canada” (initially online in January 2022) shows that differences in the economic incorporation of Muslims and other immigrant minorities in France and Canada are mainly related to immigrant selectivity, labour market structures, and welfare transfers. Differences in ethno-specific penalties due to cultural frames — related to multiculturalism in Canada and secular republicanism in France — are small, affect only the second generation, and are related both to minority household patterns and to treatment in mainstream institutions. These findings are based on the most comprehensive comparative data yet provided for any immigrant minorities in Europe and North America, and while they reinforce some conventional stereotypes, they also challenge many commonly held beliefs.
See: Jeffrey G. Reitz, Emily Laxer & Patrick Simon. 2022. “National cultural frames and Muslims’ economic incorporation: a comparison of France and Canada.” International Migration Review 56,2: 499-532. DOI: 10.1177/01979183211035725
A second new publication in the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies, in collaboration with Emily Laxer and Jessica Stallone, entitled “Challenging the Legitimacy of Exclusion: Muslim Women and Social Boundaries in Different Headscarf Policy Contexts” (initially online in June 2022), compares the experiences and responses of Muslim women wearing the headscarf in Paris, Montreal, and Toronto. Based on qualitative interviews capturing multiple dimensions of social boundary formation, it is found that despite the different headscarf policies in place in each setting, Muslim women experience extensive social exclusion in all three settings. The different hijab policies are important in shaping ways they challenge the legitimacy of such exclusion.
See: Emily Laxer, Jeffrey G. Reitz & Jessica Stallone. “Challenging the Legitimacy of Exclusion: Muslim Women and Social Boundaries in Different Headscarf Policy Contexts.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 46:5, 987-1009. DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2022.2089535
See all previous publications from Jeff’s SSHRC project “Muslim Minorities in France, Quebec and Canada: Social, Economic, and Political Integration,” below. As well, Jeff’s publications comparing the experiences of immigrants in Canada with those in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany are listed under Cross-national Comparisons on this website.
A comparison of the experiences of immigrants and minorities in France and Canada is of great interest because the two countries represent such extreme contrasts in the cultural framing of immigration and ethnocultural diversity. Throughout its extensive immigration history, France has remained committed to “republican universalism” and the equality of citizens, a tradition relegating cultural differences tied to migration to the private sphere and severely repressing public use of regional languages. The French approach to equality is grounded in colorblindness, and references to race in public speeches or statistics are prohibited. France’s emphasis on secularism has been extensively cited in recent debates on regulating religious (mainly Islamic) signs in public and occupational settings. By contrast, Canada defines itself as a nation of immigrants and, with other settler societies such as the United States and Australia, prioritizes rapid progress to citizenship. Legal rights of racial and religious minorities advanced from the early post-war period in Canada, which is known for its early and steadfast endorsement of multiculturalism and official recognition and support of minority cultures.
The study focuses on Muslim minorities as a group in which the importance of cultural framing has been much discussed, but includes consideration of other minorities as well. Identifying the effects of cultural framing on immigrant integration must take account of the characteristics of the immigrants themselves, and also differences in mainstream institutions such as labour markets and the welfare state. This multi-year research has been conducted in collaboration with Dr. Patrick Simon of the National Institute of Demographic Studies in Paris, and Prof. Emily Laxer, Glendon College, York University, with support of grants from the European Commission and the government of Canada. Data sources are drawn from a variety of existing quantitative surveys, supplemented with qualitative field interviews in each setting. A description of the project objectives is available here; a version in French is available here.
Extensive publication of results is now available. In such contrasting cases, the effects of cultural framing might be expected to manifest themselves most clearly, yet our results with respect to minority social inclusion and political incorporation (Reitz, Simon, and Laxer 2017; Laxer, Reitz, and Simon 2020) found only one such effect: that of citizenship law on naturalization rates (see also Reitz, Simon, and Laxer 2017; Joly and Reitz 2018). This is entirely consistent with the new results described above, recently published in International Migration Review.
The following is a list of publications from the project to date.
2015 Jeffrey G. Reitz, “The Status of Muslim Minorities Following the Paris Attacks,” pp. 21-27 in After the Paris Attacks: Responses in Canada, Europe, and Around the Globe, ed. by Edward M. Iacobucci and Stephen J. Toope, Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Two slightly revised versions reprinted as: “Integration of Muslim Minorities: Is it about religion?” Inroads: The Canadian Journal of Opinion, 38, Winter-Spring, 2016, pp. 101-108; and “The Status of Muslim Minorities during the War on Terror.” Chapter 52 in: Reading Sociology: Canadian Perspectives, 3rd Edition, ed. Lorne Tepperman, Patrizia Albanese and Emily Alexander. Scarborough: Oxford University Press, 2017
2016 Alexandra Kassir & Jeffrey G. Reitz, “Protesting headscarf ban: a path to becoming more French? A case study of ‘Mamans toutes égales’ and ‘Sorties scolaires avec nous,’ Ethnic and Racial Studies 39,15: 2683-2700. DOI:10.1080/01419870.2016.1171371
2017 Jeffrey G. Reitz, Patrick Simon & Emily Laxer, “Muslims’ social inclusion and exclusion in France, Québec, and Canada: does national context matter?” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43, 15: 2473–2498. DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2017.1313105
2017 Jeffrey G. Reitz, “Multicultural Nation-building and Canada’s Future: Implications of Comparative Research.” Pp. 30-49 in Immigration and the Future of Canadian Society, ed. By Robert Brym, Toronto: Rock’s Mills Press. (Based on the second S.D. Clark Symposium on the Future of Canadian Society, held November 4, 2016.)
2018 Marie-Pier Joly & Jeffrey G. Reitz, “Emotional Stress and the Integration of Muslim Minorities in France and Canada,” International Migration Review 52, 4 (December) 1111-1129 DOI: 10.1177/0197918318768551
2020 Emily Laxer, Jeffrey G. Reitz & Patrick Simon, “Muslims’ political and civic incorporation in France and Canada: testing models of participation,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 46,17: 3677-3702. DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2019.1620418
2020 Emily Laxer, Jeffrey G. Reitz & Patrick Simon, “L’intégration civique des musulmans en France, au Québec et au Canada anglaise: quelle est l’incidence des ‘modèles’ nationaux?” (Title in English: “Muslims’ Political and Civic Incorporation in France, Québec, and English-Canada: Do National ‘Models’ Play a Role?”) Pp. 569-599 in Étudier le religieux au Québec: regards d’ici et d’ailleurs, eds. David Koussens, Jean-François Laniel and Jean-Philippe Perreault, Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.
2022 Jeffrey G. Reitz, Emily Laxer & Patrick Simon. “National cultural frames and Muslims’ economic incorporation: a comparison of France and Canada.” International Migration Review 56,2: 499-532. DOI: 10.1177/01979183211035725
2023 Emily Laxer, Jeffrey G. Reitz & Jessica Stallone. “Challenging the Legitimacy of Exclusion: Muslim Women and Social Boundaries in Different Headscarf Policy Contexts.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 46:5, 987-1009. DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2022.2089535
Jeffrey G. Reitz 