Differentiated Visibility? Representations of Chinese migrants in French government’s official reports
Résumé
Since the 1970s, French society has seen a diversification of its population component with the presence of Asian immigrants on French territory. This population, despite its number less important at the national level compared to other immigrants, is highly concentrated in several cities such as Paris and its neighboring cities (Aubervilliers or La Courneuve).
As soon as the presence of Chinese immigrants in France, social images, often contrasting one and each other, have been developed around this population: some images are rather positive like “good Asian students”, while others are formed in a negative way like the “informal economy” or even “Chinese mafias”. Nevertheless, few scientific studies are systematically conducted on these social images: how are they constructed and how are they perceived by French society?
This presentation is an experimental/preliminary study seeking to understand how the Chinese immigrants and their descendants are described, narrated and presented in French official reports on immigration issues. By analyzing these reports both in national level and local level, this study wonders whether the national-level reports relay ready-made and stereotypical images of Chinese immigrants, or even contribute to the invisibility of this immigrant group. Then it asks whether the reports at the local level offer more refined and diverse images. This work seeks to clarify the “divergent representations” and the process of the subtle (in)visibilization of Chinese immigrants in French society.