On the surface, 9/11 may seem to have damaged multiculturalism throughout Western societies, because of fears that tolerance for cultural difference will allow radical Islam to proselytize further among immigrant populations. However, a more thoroughgoing examination leads, I believe, to the conclusion that the fate of multiculturalism is variable from one society to another, because it is tied to the ways cultural difference is articulated by the construction of native-immigrant boundaries. Multiculturalism, as will be apparent from the argument below, has been especially at risk since 9/11 wherever Muslims form a large portion of the low-status immigrant population, and thus where religion figures importantly in the distinctions that natives, whether secular or Christian, draw between themselves and disfavored immigrant groups. Paradoxically, then, multiculturalism, at least of a “soft” kind, has not been affected as much in the United States, despite the traumatic impact of 9/11 there, as it has in some Western European countries.

My main concern in this paper is exploring conceptual approaches to the comparative study of immigrant-group incorporation in contemporary economically advanced societies. The particular focus is on the second generation, those children growing up in immigrant families; but especially those from families headed by low-wage immigrants, as commonly found among Mexicans in the United States, North Africans in France, and Turks in Germany. Such groups have entered societies where today, more than ever, the level of educational attainment determines life chances in the labor market. In particular, post-secondary credentials are required to insure that young people can obtain “good” jobs (with the quotation marks signifying that the relative goodness of jobs is socially defined). In addition to sufficient educational attainment, the right early trajectory in the labor market is necessary to position young people favorably. Given the starting point for this second generation – growing up in families whose heads have very limited education, and frequently leaving school without a diploma – climbing the difficult educational ladder in such societies as France or Germany might seem an impossible task.

It is very common, moreover, for second-generation youth to suffer from a variety of ethnic penalties and yet to have opportunities for mobility and even assimilation.