Jean Beaman

Associate Professor of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center

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About Jean

Beaman's research focuses on race, ethnicity, racism, immigration, and urbanism. Beaman examines how populations who are citizens remain on the margins of mainstream society, and what this reveals about race and racism in the U.S., France, and globally. Beaman is the author of Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France (University of California Press, 2017), which explores issues of upward mobility and racism for France's North African second-generation. Beaman is also Editor of H-Net Black Europe; Associate Editor of the journal, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power; and Consulting Editor for Metropolitics.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

In the News

Opinion: "Stop Calling the French World Cup Victory an ‘Immigrant Win," Jean Beaman, The Washington Post, July 20, 2018.

Opinion: "‘Je Suis Ahmed,’ Charlie Hebdo, and France’s Elephant in the Room: Race ," Jean Beaman, The Conversation, February 9, 2015.

Publications

"Race: A Never-Ending Taboo in France" Georgetown Journal of International Affiairs (2021).

Elaborates on how recent events in France have revealed that race remains such a loaded concept in French society. Mentions how policymakers must emphasize that this is nothing new, and that public policies need to address historical and present racism in France in order to move forward.

"From Ferguson to France" Contexts 14, no. 1 (2015): 65-67.

Discusses how ethnic minorities face structural racism and economic distress. Examines the parallels between past oppression and what happens today.

"Citizen Outsider Children of North African Immigrants in France " (University of California Press, 2017).

Discusses an ethnographic examination of the middle-class segment of France's North African second-generation and issues of upward mobility, race/racism, and marginalization.

"As French as Anyone Else: Islam and the North African Second Generation in France" International Migration Review 50, no. 1 (2015): 41-69.

Discusses Islamophobia throughout Europe, Muslims in France. Examines their marginalization within mainstream stream society with regards to their religious practices.

"Can Muslims Be French Too?" Monitor Racisim (2018).

Examines xenophobic sentiments regarding Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity, and Codevelopment, though demolished still continues today. Discusses these biases against Muslims in France.

"Where Do Black Lives Matter? Police Violence and Antiracism in France and the United States" Items - Insights From the Social Sciences (2019).

Presents research into race and police violence, and the response to such violence, in France. Compares similarities and many differences in how social mobilization against police violence is framed and carried out in France and the United States.

"But Madame, We Are French Also " Contexts 19, no. 2 (2012).

Discusses middle-class and upwardly-mobile children of North African immigrants in France, who despite their upward mobility feel just as marginalized as other children of immigrants.