| Abstract: | Immigration in France is a complex and multi-faceted process. As such, it has to be studied in a great variety of ways. Undue oversimplifications have to be identified and overcome when analyzing its social and spatial situations, notably those presenting the immigrants as confined populations. The author, who belongs to an Algerian family and was born in Lyon, has investigated for many years North African immigrants' relations to time and space. More precisely, approaching the theme through their spatial mobility, he analyzes the ways they institute social and spatial distances in their daily life. The data are based on qualitative inquiries (about 15 North African households living around Lyon), permanent observations, research on illegal urban transport practices, and the reconstitution of his own family life story, which typifies those of North African migrants and their families. His conclusions bring out the existence of cultural specificities characterizing the perception and use of the space-time scale. The French urban life context in which this population is living has led to the emergence of various social and individual strategies. New territorialism and identification processes basically affect the immigrant community. |
