French Cultural Policy: Example of the National Museum of Immigration History in Paris

This research is devoted to the study of the National Museum of Immigration History in Paris in the field of French cultural policy. The study describes the prerequisites and reasons for the creation of a museum, the stages of its existence and the main mechanisms for the implementation of cultural policy in the museum space. France is characterized by a significant influence of the state on the cultural sphere. During the second half of the twentieth and first quarter of the twenty-first century, the main trends of French cultural policy were formed. The purpose of this study is to analyze the Museum of Immigration History as a typical (or, on the contrary, atypical) phenomenon of the French cultural policy. Based on the results of field research and analysis of documents connected with the creation of the Museum of Immigration History , the author comes to the conclusion that in general the museum is just an example of the implicit cultural policy of France, which is carried out by the departments related to integration and immigration, but not the Ministry of Culture. This phenomenon can be explained by the conservative thinking of the Ministry of Culture and its unwillingness to work with new forms and new problems. Nevertheless, the fact of the creation of this museum (which has national significance) after lots of discussions and a series of failures indicates the transformation of the French cultural policy and gives hope for the gradual deactualization of the migration problem.