Between Equality & Erasure: Understanding the Influence of French "Race-Blindness" on Healthcare Coordination for African Migrants in Paris

Abstract

This thesis investigates the absence of racial data in France and how this “race-blindness ” influences the care coordination strategies of French healthcare organizations that support North and sub-Saharan African migrants in Paris. Through interviews with informants at these healthcare organizations, this study identifies key pain points in the care-seeking process, learns how non-governmental organizations address them, and questions the extent to which race-blindness complicates the process. Qualitative framework analysis reveals that African migrants face barriers to care at every step of the public healthcare process, and that these complications are predominantly due to systemic policies and physicians ’ behaviors. Furthermore, analysis reveals that healthcare organizations work directly with migrant clients to fill in care gaps left by the public system while navigating around the lack of racial data. Findings on race’s influence on healthcare are mixed; some informants describe how racial data could help quantify appearance-based discrimination that their clients face, while others argue that other identity-based proxies are sufficient to coordinate care for their clients. These findings challenge notions of France’s national identity and show the need for the French government and people to grapple with the increasing racial diversity of the population.