The French-Muslim Connection
Riots Aside, Is France Doing a Better Job of Integration than Its Critics?
by Jodie T. Allen Pew Research Center August 17, 2006
When Muslim youth rioted in the suburbs of France late last year, commentators were quick to fault the French "color-blind" assimilation model. "The unrest in France's cities shows that social and policing policy has failed, as well as integration," read the headline on an article in the Economist magazine on November 12, 2005.
But findings from the latest Pew Global Attitudes Survey, which included over-samples of Muslims in four European countries, suggest that the French model can claim some success, however mixed. Some aspects of that relative success are especially striking when compared with the attitudes and experiences of Muslims in Great Britain, home of the Economist.
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