Immigrazione e pluralità di culture : due modelli a confronto

France and Great Britain have very different, well-established traditions for dealing with cultural diversity. In France, no formal recognition is accorded to ethnic minority groups, so their cultural diversities are given no consideration in the public realm. As French law only takes individuals into account, it makes no provision for ethnic minority groups which, on the other hand, are accorded formal recognition in British law, in the name of a system based on cultural pluralism. The aim of this essay is to focus attention on these different social and legal systems, and therefore models, by studying such major provisions as the British Race Relations Act 1976 and also concentrating on certain test cases, such as the recent Mandla vs. Dowell Lee, which has become a relevant landmark for the socio-legal study of cultural diversity. Such cases are primarily concerned with defining what constitutes an ethnic group, protecting the gypsy community and dealing with the practice of female mutilation