The possible, the imaginable and the feasible: French Muslims in urban space between assignments and movements

In France, Islam is increasingly associated with the idea of threat, and the category “Muslim” tends to aggregate various forms of otherness. This dynamic is particularly visible in Nice, one of the country’s most polarised cities, where Islam is constructed as a public problem and individuals of Muslim background are depicted as a problematic population, resistant to integration. Such essentialist representations contribute to a degrading self-image among Muslim citizens, who are caught between invisibility and immobility and are relegated to second-class citizenship. Drawing on ethnographic research, this article examines how spatial and symbolic assignations shape these experiences, producing a negative atmosphere that constrains what is possible, imaginable, and feasible. It then identifies emerging movements that challenge these perceptions and narratives. Through urban transformation, social mobility, and the engagement of a new generation, alternative forms of identity and citizenship are taking shape beyond imposed categories and assignations.