Examining the changes and attempted changes in French government policies on migration and nationality (such as the reformulation of the nationality code, the Pasqua Laws and the Debré Law) from the mid-1980's up to the present, this article argues the existence of a relationship between the making of these policies and the construction of national identity. This relationship has undergone significant changes due to the impact of the so-called globalization process. Globalization implies a redesigning of the role of the nation-state, which hitherto had a central part in the definition of national identity. The author contends that this process is bound to affect the relationship between the French national and the foreign national and, consequently, the formulation of the policies which regulate that relationship.
Nationality; Immigration policy