Reproducing the French Race

Elisa Camiscioli is Associate Professor of History and Women’s Studies at Binghamton University.

“In this book, Camiscioli goes far beyond a skillful analysis of interwar immigration discourse and policies. . . . Camiscioli’s [argument is] smart, carefully constructed, thoroughly and widely documented. . .” - Brett A. Berliner, American Historical Review “Elisa Camiscioli’s Reproducing the French Race makes a significant contribution to the historiography of interwar France. It does so by integrating two fields that have too often been dealt with separately: gender andimmigration. . . . Beyond recasting the historiography of interwar France,Reproducing the French Race provides an important basis for comparing the mutual implication of sex and immigration in France today.” - Judith Surkis, H-France Review “Reproducing the French Race skillfully weaves together the discoursesof empire, corporeality, racialization, citizenship, and intimacy in a boldand innovative look at the foundational actions of republican citizenship,gendered identities, and the racial grammar of early twentieth-centuryFrance. Camicsioli’s command of the feminist scholarship aboutsexuality and empire renders the book accessible to non-Francophonespecialists, a welcome addition to our knowledge of the imperial roots ofcontemporary immigration.” - Michelle McKinley, Journal of Interdisciplinary History “Reproducing the French Race is well written and studiously argued. . . . Camiscioli’s work is worth reading and offers a cogent summary of the discursive origins of contemporary anti-immigration politics in France as well as the vitriolic debate over French national identity. . . . I recommend Camiscioli’s work as one of the more important studies of immigration and identity formation in early twentieth century France.” - James E. Genova, Left History “Elisa Camiscioli’s book is an intriguing examination of the importance of race and gender to late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French anxieties about population decline and national degeneration. . . . On the whole, Reproducing the French Race is a careful, well documented, and persuasively argued investigation. . . . [I]nsightful contribution to the growing literature on French universalism.” - Naomi J. Andrews, Canadian Journal of History “Camiscioli’s Reproducing Empire offers a very rewarding and pithy illumination of race and sex and the anxieties they produced in the French Third Republic (1870–1940). It is an impressive work. . . . This book gives longevity and intellectual breadth and depth to acute contemporary debates about the French nation and its jealously-guarded identity.” - Patricia O’Brien, Journal of Women’s History “Reproducing the French Race is an original, insightful, and very important contribution to the historiography of twentieth-century France. One of the best explorations of the intersections between race, gender, and national identity that I have seen, it has no parallel in existing histories of modern France.”-Tyler Stovall, coeditor of The Color of Liberty: Histories of Race in France “Reproducing the French Race skillfully traces underlying connections among immigration, gender, and national identity in interwar France, while fundamentally refiguring seemingly settled scholarship on pronatalism and labor rationalization by demonstrating the still under-recognized centrality of race to them. Elisa Camiscioli has written an accomplished and ambitious work that integrates issues typically treated separately into an innovative argument about ‘embodiment’ that challenges conventional assumptions about French republicanism as essentially abstract and universal.”-Gary Wilder, author of The French Imperial Nation-State: Negritude and Colonial Humanism Between the Two World Wars “Reproducing the French Race is well written and studiously argued. . . . Camiscioli’s work is worth reading and offers a cogent summary of the discursive origins of contemporary anti-immigration politics in France as well as the vitriolic debate over French national identity. . . . I recommend Camiscioli’s work as one of the more important studies of immigration and identity formation in early twentieth century France.” - James E. Genova (Left History) “Reproducing the French Race skillfully weaves together the discourses of empire, corporeality, racialization, citizenship, and intimacy in a bold and innovative look at the foundational actions of republican citizenship, gendered identities, and the racial grammar of early twentieth-century France. Camicsioli’s command of the feminist scholarship about sexuality and empire renders the book accessible to non-Francophone specialists, a welcome addition to our knowledge of the imperial roots of contemporary immigration.” - Michelle McKinley (Journal of Interdisciplinary History) “Camiscioli’s Reproducing Empire offers a very rewarding and pithy illumination of race and sex and the anxieties they produced in the French Third Republic (1870–1940). It is an impressive work. . . . This book gives longevity and intellectual breadth and depth to acute contemporary debates about the French nation and its jealously-guarded identity.” - Patricia O'Brien (Journal of Women's History) “Elisa Camiscioli’s book is an intriguing examination of the importance of race and gender to late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French anxieties about population decline and national degeneration. . . . On the whole, Reproducing the French Race is a careful, well documented, and persuasively argued investigation. . . . [I]nsightful contribution to the growing literature on French universalism.” - Naomi J. Andrews (Canadian Journal of History) “Elisa Camiscioli’s Reproducing the French Race makes a significant contribution to the historiography of interwar France. It does so by integrating two fields that have too often been dealt with separately: gender and immigration. . . . Beyond recasting the historiography of interwar France, Reproducing the French Race provides an important basis for comparing the mutual implication of sex and immigration in France today.” - Judith Surkis (H-France, H-Net Reviews) “In this book, Camiscioli goes far beyond a skillful analysis of interwar immigration discourse and policies. . . . Camiscioli’s [argument is] smart, carefully constructed, thoroughly and widely documented. . .” - Brett A. Berliner (American Historical Review)

• Acknowledgments ixIntroduction. Embodiment and the Nation 11. Immigration, Demography, and Pronatalism 212. Labor Power and the Racial Economy 513. Hybridity and Its Discontents 754. Black Migrants, White Slavery: Metissage in the Metropole and Abroad 995. Intermarriage, Independent Nationality, and Individual Rights 129Conclusion. Gender, Race, and Republican Embodiment 155Notes 161Bibliography 197Index 223