Reconsidering Public Space: The Case of Turkish Associations in France

Abstract

This article examines how immigrant culture in modern-day France is communicated through Turkish associations as a medium of the public space. Through interviews with members of various types of cultural associations, I explore how public and private space dictate how culture and identity are understood within the French context. To better explain their goals and how they fit into larger French “cultural” discussion, I develop a simple typology of these cultural associations as “localizing” or “orientalizing” immigrant culture. Pointing to the space between these categories, I show the need for the immigrant experience to be recognized as part of French history in these public spaces in order to directly confront the issue of “neo-racism.”