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French and Italian Studies - Online Resources

Web Sources for Immigration Studies – France

These sources are good starting places to look for a variety of information on immigration and immigrants in France. They include bibliographies of articles and other writings, articles on issues of interest, directories and contact information to associations, governmental organizations, and research centers that focus on immigration issues in France. There is a wide range of subjects covered, from those directly involved with the migration experience, to social, political, and cultural issues linked to the diversity of France’s population due to migration from within Europe, from the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
While these websites are all relatively up-to-date in April 2004, be aware that they may be maintained sporadically. As time goes on, elements of the sites may change. This is far from an exhaustive list, but it suggests sites that can be used as portals to broader and deeper research in the field of migration and France.

REMESIS
CIEMI
ADRI
Génériques
LIMAG
Revues Plurielles
Le Guide scolaire

Réseau d’information sur les migrations internationales (REMISIS), produced since 1986, is the product of a CNRS lab. REMISIS’s coverage is not limited to France, yet its focus is on France, and on French language monographs, journal articles, theses, and organizations.
For the researcher, its website contains the most up to date version of the annotated bibliography and a directory of the main French university centers on immigration studies. The directory also notes the public and non-governmental organizations that work with immigrants and serve as sites of collection and diffusion of information. Because of this, it is a good portal for immigration-related organizations.

Centre d’information et d’études sur les migrations internationales. has recently put online its library catalogue, filled with over 55,000 works on migration. CIEMI began as the archives for the Eco d’Italia newspaper, which documented the lives of Italian migrants in France from the 1930s-1970s. Most of its archival collection is formed by the fascist and antifascist newspapers of Italians in France, as well as ephemera and correspondence by Italian migrants. Now, CIEMI concerns itself with immigration from other countries into France as well as international migration. CIEMI also contains a library with over 55,000 references, including books, articles, and periodicals, and publishes the scholarly journal Migrations société.
For the researcher using its resources on the Internet, CIEMI’s online catalogue, which could be used as a searchable bibliography for immigration issues, and its index to Migrations société, would be the most important aspects.

ADRI (Agence pour le développement des relations interculturelles) proposes 3 journals: the scholarly journal Hommes & Migrations, the online review Migrations Etudes, a monthly synthesis of current works around a specific immigration-related theme, and Altérités, a web-magazine and popular forum for topics associated with migration. Migrations Etudes is particularly notable for its bibliographic and methodological focus. ADRI-Info is a twice-monthly newsletter containing bibliographical information on books, periodicals, and reports on issues dealing with migration or urban issues. ADRI is also planning the creation of a Centre de ressources et de mémoire de l’immigration, sponsored by the French government. Its proposed existence testifies to the importance and durability of this topic.
Online, the most important parts of this site are the e-journals and their indexes, the directory of Internet sites consecrated to issues of migration and integration, and 2 large bibliographic databases.
- The contents of ADRI’s documentation center, as well as those of 7 other centers (the Reseau integration), have been put into a single bibliographic database. This bibliography is also available in print form.
- RAXEN (Racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia European network) – a link to this network and its databases of publications, organizations, and activities.

This organization sponsors historical research that illuminates the diversity of immigration in France, notably by collecting and facilitating the cultural creations of old and new immigrants – oral histories, traditional and artistic creations – and making them accessible through publications and exhibits. The Génériques webpage also offers a searchable periodical index of journals by or about immigrants. Its print publication, Migrances, is a richly illustrated review containing both articles and bibliographical suggestions for the researcher.
Génériques is also the force (with the Archives Nationales) behind the bibliography of public and private archives of immigration sources from 1800-1962, that exists both in print form and in searchable form on its website:
Pierre-Jacques Derainne et al., Les Etrangers En France : Guide Des Sources D'Archives Publiques Et Privées : XIXe-XXe Siècles (Paris: Génériques : Direction des archives de France, 1999). (This is the continuation of : Archives nationales (France) and Jean-François Dubost, Les Étrangers En France : XVIe Siècle-1789 : Guide Des Recherches Aux Archives Nationales (Paris: Archives nationales, 1993)).

Created by Professor Charles Bonn, this resource for Maghrebin literature contains bibliographies, full texts of articles and dissertations, dossiers on various authors, and lists of events and colloquia. Even though it is regularly updated, some parts of this site are updated more frequently than others. It is a valuable resource for researchers working on contemporary literature and criticism by or about authors of North African origins.

The Ministry of Education’s 2004 guide for republican schools, focusing on teaching about racism, anti-semitism, and fundamentalism/communatarianism. Contains a glossary and articles by noted scholars, a timeline, and filmography.
- See also other French government sites like the Ministry of Culture and INSEE (Statistics)

This is a web-portal for about 20 e-journals that deal with various political, social, and cultural aspects of migration and interculturality. It works better as a portal than as an access to particular articles, article summaries, or tables of contents.

Last modified: June 27, 2005