Assimilation: Minority cultures expected to adopt beliefs and practices of majority culture; end goal is conformity and preservation of cultural homogeneity
Integration: Different cultures are preserved and allowed to coexist with each other
France
Encourages locals to speak French language, practice French culture, and adopt French values
Race-blind Society
Illegal to collect race-based data in France
No policies that separate/identify racial groups
The word “race” was removed from the constitution in 2018
Laicite → Secularism
Education
No discussions of race except during history and philosophy
Adaptation classes for children of immigrants to learn french
Allows the young to learn and adapt to French livelihood naturally through schooling
Allows interaction with fellow students and fit into French schools
Child will loose his/her original ethnic/cultural/religious identity as they assimilate to French culture and their own culture is suppressed
Disadvantaged in the learning as compared to the native French speakers
Employment
Employing immigrants retains them to the country, contributing to France’s social capital
Workers will have to study the French language to communicate with French colleagues
More employment = source of income
Immigrants feel accepted in to French society as they can contribute by working there
Discrimination in hiring practices is an issue, causing unemployment of immigrants, favoring natives instead
May not be effective depending on the nature of the job and who the immigrants work with
Naturalisation Process
Develop basic knowledge about being French
Attend compulsory French language courses
Pass French culture and history tests, French language proficiency tests
Attain fluency in French language, able to interact with locals in French
Adopt french attitudes and beliefs
Strengthen French identity
Demanding and stressful for immigrants who are not allowed to practice their ethnic culture publicly.
Pros of Assimilation
Less ambiguity of which identity or value takes precedence
People can fit in better after adopting the same values, language and identity
Equal treatment before the law regardless of race or religion
Cons of Assimilation
Equality is not equability, some may be more affected than others by the same law
Immigrants may feel that giving up/hiding their non-French selves causes them to loose a part of themselves
Erasure of religious identity.
Singapore
Why integration?
SG started as country of immigrants, no dominant culture
Ensuring Representation, Protecting Rights, and Preserving Culture
Croup Representative Constituencies:
Ensures minority representation in Parliament with candidate quotas
Amended Presidential Elections Act (2017):
Reserves a presidential election for a race that has not had a representative in the past 5 terms
Ensure representation of minority groups in the office of the President
Presidential Council of Minority Rights (PCMR):
Inspect laws drafted by Parliament for discrimination against/for minorities
Ensures laws passed do not discriminate against minorities
Bilingual Policy:
Ensures mother tongues are preserved through compulsory 2nd language education
Ethnic self-help groups:
Mendaki (1982), SINDA (1991) and CDAC (1992) address community-specific challenges with direct support from respective communities
Legistlation for Security and Public Order with Regard to Race/Religion
Penal Code (cap. 224):
Sections 298 & 298A prevents deliberate “wounding of the religious or racial feelings of any person” or acts “likely to disturb the public tranquility”
Sedition Act (cap. 290):
Prevents promotion of “feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races/classes”
This act was repealed Oct 22 with amended section 74 Penal Code that imposes a 2x penalty for “racially or religiously aggravated” offences
Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (cap. 167A) (MRHA)
Prevents misuse of religious authority to cause feelings of hatred between different religious groups
Creating Common Spaces and Shared Experiences
Grassroots Organisations:
Promote community bonding through events and activities via the People’s Association
Community Integration Fund (2009):
Encourages initiatives by CSOs that promote community bonding
Singapore Citizenship Journey:
Mandatory programme that helps naturalised citizens learn more about SG history, culture and values