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Accepted Paper:
'Outsiders' in France, 'Westerners' in the gulf: motives for expatriation in the professional trajectory of second-generation French graduates of North African descent
Martin Lestra
(European University Institute)
Paper short abstract:
In this article we analyse the motives for the increased presence of French nationals of North African descent working in the Gulf region. The article finds that these individuals develop strategies of expatriation in the Gulf to enhance their professional career.
Paper long abstract:
In this article we analyse the motives for the increased presence of French nationals of North African descent working in the Gulf region. The article finds that these individuals develop strategies of expatriation in the Gulf to enhance their professional career. Paradoxically, the professional success they encounter in the Gulf is also the result of their 'Westerner' status as bearers of French nationality - a country in which they face ongoing discrimination in labour recruitment. These individuals self-ascribe their motivations as being the following: pursuing a migratory dream; bypassing perceptions of islamophobia and ascertained discriminatory practices in French recruitment; as well as to a latter extent, reconnecting with their cultural origins. In conducting this empirical research, this article elaborates on the concept of spatial capital, and brings novel empirical evidence to the study of North-South migration processes.