The Colors of the Flag. The French Army in front of Discriminations Robert Laffont Editions, in the Collection 'Le monde comme il va' directed by Michel Wieviorka, Paris 2007. This publication is the result of a research directed by Ifri.

For a long time, French military with migration background have been counting on the army to erase the social and cultural prejudice they have been suffering. But are they really military as others or are they constituing a specific population? Does the French army offers the opportunity for some of them to make their "visibility" disappear beyond the uniform and the flag? In those times of "islamic threat" what is the position of the muslim soldiers?

For the first time in France, two political scientists have been authorised to carry out a large investigation in the army, in the Defense Ministry, on the French military with migration background. The evidences they gathered challenge most of the clichés on this issue : while the army offers them a "second chance", the French military with migration background are very often considered as a distinctive ethnic group. Ethnicised, marginalised by their colleagues and their close commanding officers, they suffer social, ethnic, religious or sexual discriminations. A unique investigation.