This book is a major contribution to our understanding of the condition of the immigrant and it will transform the reader’s understanding of the issues surrounding immigration. Sayad’s book will be widely used in courses on race, ethnicity, immigration and identity in sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, politics and geography.



an outstanding and original work on the experience of immigration and the kind of suffering involved in living in a society and culture which is not one’s own;

describes how immigrants are compelled, out of respect for themselves and the group that allowed them to leave their country of origin, to play down the suffering of emigration;

Abdelmalek Sayad, was an Algerian scholar and close associate of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu - after Sayad’s death, Bourdieu undertook to assemble these writings for publication;

this book will transform the reader’s understanding of the issues surrounding immigration.

Preface by: Pierre Bourdieu
Translated by: David Macey