What does it mean to be French?
That's the question the government put to its people Wednesday in what's being billed as a "Great Debate" — set against a backdrop of smoldering unrest in immigrant-heavy suburbs, a movement to ban full Muslim veils, and questions over whether France's essential identity is vanishing in a complex world.
The question may seem straightforward but it is laden with paradox.
France is a country that has one of the highest proportions of immigrants in Europe and endures recurrent tensions over religion — yet champions the notion of a consensual "Frenchness," anchored in secularism.
The country prides itself on enshrining "Republican" values — liberty, equality, fraternity — yet faces constant claims of injustice, mainly from Arab and black minorities, many of them French citizens, which saw thousands of their youths rampage through housing projects in 2005.
This government-ordered soul-searching over the French identity is an effort to clarify and reaffirm the nation's values, which President Nicolas Sarkozy says have been "forgotten and sometimes denied."
The Great Debate
All French citizens are in principle invited to participate in the series of meetings organized by the government across the country, beginning Wednesday and lasting through Jan. 31.
France's immigration minister, Eric Besson, launched the Great Debate earlier this month with a Web site where citizens can write about what they think it means to be French. Up to 32,000 contributions were posted in the first two weeks, according to the ministry.
On Wednesday, the first of hundreds of local debates took place, this one among officials of Montargis, south of Paris, and business leaders, members of associations as well as teachers and parents of students. It was held at the Immigration Ministry.
Talking points included French history, culture, religion or language. Ultimately, they are meant to address a handful of proposals such as the meaning of national symbols like the flag or whether youths should be obliged to sing the national anthem at least once a year — and how to share values with immigrant citizens.
"France is a nation of tolerance and respect, but it also asks to be respected," Sarkozy told farmers in southeastern France earlier this month. One cannot reap the advantages of living in France "without respecting any of its laws, any of its values, any of its principles."
France is also a nation of many immigrants but, until recently, most newcomers hailed from other European countries. Now many more people from elsewhere, notably Muslims from former French colonies, are part of the mix. With 5 million Muslims, France has western Europe's largest Islamic population.
Diverse viewpoints
The initiative is contentious. Rival Socialists equate the national identity debate with a political stunt meant in part to garner votes of the anti-immigration far-right National Front ahead of March regional elections. Intellectuals and philosophers are divided, as are many citizens, contending it will fan xenophobia and stigmatize nonwhite French.
Comments on the ministry's site reflect the diversity in viewpoints.
"When you see the number of racist ideas, full of resentment ... one has the right to question the pertinence of this debate which pits one French against the other," wrote someone identified as Hasard in a message posted Tuesday. "This debate is a formidable trigger for hate, jealousy, pretense."
Francois, born in the Paris region of Seine-Saint-Denis, with a large population with origins in sub-Saharan and Muslim North Africa, fears that "we will end up like the American Indians, a minority in our own country."
Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, appears to have a clear vision of France's national identity — or what it is not. In his recent speech, he took new aim at the face-covering, all-enveloping Islamic robe worn by a very small minority of Muslim women, saying there is "no place for the subservience of women" in France.
Debating the national identity "is not dangerous. It's necessary," Sarkozy said.
Sarkozy had vowed to bolster France's sense of national identity while campaigning for the presidency in 2007. He quickly created the Ministry of Immigration Ministry, Integration, National Identity and Co-Solidarity.
Not for government to decide?
Some see the debate initiative as a reaction to a France whose citizens, and non-citizens, of immigrant origin are growing increasingly vocal, just as the singular French model of integration by which foreigners are expected to fully assimilate is weakening.
"I'm amazed at this debate. It's a political event (and) doesn't represent any deep need in society," said Emmanuelle Saada, a sociologist and historian at Columbia University and France's Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.
"National identity is not up to us to establish as a norm for us to conform to," she said in a telephone interview. "National identity just happens. ... In a big sense, it is outside our control." And, she adds, "It's not for any government to decide."
The question, she said, is why the issue resonates with the public.
Hicham Kochman, a rapper known as Axiom, says the national identity debate is a diversion.
Axiom made his mark with a song 2006 song, "Ma Lettre au President," written to the tune of the Marseillaise, the French national anthem.
"I think this debate hijacks the real problems," like unemployment and buying power, he said.
"The only values in France are liberty, equality, fraternity. ... Each time injustice gains ground, the values are weakened. For me, France isn't a country. It's an idea."
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