The time of origins: The rise and fall of a diversity policy toward migrant pupils in France (1960s–1990s)

This article examines the institutionalization in the French education system of a policy that celebrated the cultural distinctiveness of migrant pupils and their cultural ties to their home countries. This policy approach was a puzzling choice given the French universalist context, which is generally assumed to be more about cultural homogenization than accommodating difference. Using archival sources, the article considers the extent to which the policy fostered both a differentialist approach and a radical critique of the school system's ethnocentric bias. Finally, the article offers a methodologically based discussion of the relevance of using national models of integration paradigms to understand the long-term treatment of migrants within nation states.