This book should be of particular interest to sociolinguists who believe in the value of discourse analysis for a better understanding of society. As indicated in the title, Varro's overall objective is to contribute to a nascent sociologie de la mixité by examining the concept of “mixed” as used at various levels of life in society. Her insightful analysis results in an enlightening description of some fundamental aspects of contemporary French society regarding the condition of immigrants and foreigners in the nation. She accomplishes this task through a constructionist approach to language inspired by J. L. Austin and Pierre Bourdieu, among others. The focus is on behavioral consequences of the categorizations and discourse engendered by a deceptively simple term, mixte, as applied to individuals or other social units. For instance, so-called mixed families are often automatically considered as dysfunctional and may become scapegoats at the societal level.

Varro's valuable contribution appears at a time when the French are finally coming to grips with the fact that their country, despite its long-held self-image, is not homogeneous, and that the famous motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité does not necessarily apply to all individuals within the nation. Varro remarks that even the public school fosters the existence of differential treatment: once a child is branded as having foreign or mixed parentage, a whole chain of associations sets in, shaped by the Jacobin model (inherited from the 1789 Revolution) according to which heterogeneity is essentially negative, and a mixed marriage a potential threat to the unity of the nation. Such attitudes, which are engendered by language-based social categorizations, are examined here in a “language as action” perspective. Unlike other social scientists who often focus on external (legal, political, economic) aspects of immigration, Varro resolutely starts from the internal reality of being a foreigner – an experience she underwent herself when she arrived in France as a young woman from the United States. Her primary tool is discourse analysis, and her data consist mainly of the abundant material she has collected over the years through interviews with members of mixed families in France, in Germany, and to a lesser extent in Bosnia.

The Introduction clearly outlines the author's specific objectives: contextual analysis of linguistic expressions centered around the notion of mixte at various levels of life in society; critical examination of social behaviors engendered by related categorizations, and discourse. She will ultimately propose that the notion of mixité (an abstract noun she derives from the adjective mixte) be used as a positive concept representing the will of different individuals and groups to live together in a society, in contrast to segregation or ethnicization. To this end, she will patiently demolish the idea that the term mixte should be used to single out people, a categorization which may lead to harmful finger-pointing in society.

In chap. 1, we find a detailed analysis of the uses and meanings of the term mixte through the centuries in French society, as applied in particular to mixed marriages. As Varro points out, there is often interplay between dictionary definitions and speakers' actual uses of the term. She also demonstrates that the meaning of “mixed marriage” varies with time and place: It can refer to religion, race, or nationality.

Chaps. 2–4 deal with the notion of mixte at the micro level, focusing in turn on the couple, the family, and the individual. In chap. 2, the author suggests that, unless mixed couples can be shown to have particular features unique to them, they should not really be considered as a separate category. Using the theory of homogamy as a point of departure, she convincingly demonstrates that mixed couples in France (which, by the present definition, are couples that include a member born outside of France, regardless of race or religion) are no more heterogamous than others in terms of such social markers as level of education or socio-economic status. She concludes that the categorization of a couple as mixed derives essentially from its members' self-image and the image others may have of them, as fashioned in part by the degree of social markedness of the foreign identity.

In chap. 3, Varro turns her attention to the mixed family in order to test the existence of structures specific to it. This discussion is based mainly on her own studies of American-French families in France and German-French families in France or Germany. She stresses the high degree of variability characterizing such cross-national families, but still proceeds to look for recurring patterns. Regularities do appear in two areas: ways of life, for example food practices and extended visits to the country of the foreign parent; and marking and negotiating the children's identities in three specific domains – choice of first names, language practices, and religion. However, it turns out that the children's identities are mainly grounded in the country in which they get socialized and formally educated, and whose language is their first. Apart from the few who live in ethnic neighborhoods, the children of mixed couples do not really differ from other local children; even when exposed to two different cultures and languages, they live in a unified universe – unlike first-generation individuals, who typically live in a dichotomized universe. Varro proposes not to erase the concept of mixed family, but rather to give it a positive connotation by emphasizing the fact that, given the presence of an “outsider” in its midst, such a family is likely to be more open to and accepting of diversity.

Chap. 4 deals with self-identification as constructed through language. Individuals constantly have to define themselves according to imposed official categories that are constitutive of their identities, whether in a census questionnaire or in an application for a passport. In this discussion Varro makes use of interview data she collected among young people of American-French or German-French parentage. She notes that some of those adolescents are actually constructing new, European or international identities that transcend the family and the nation.

In chap. 5, we get to the macro level, with a focus on the French public school system, which until the 1970s was modeled on the Jacobin principle of uniformity. Once the concept of assimilation was discredited in France and replaced by the concept of integration, special programs were put in place for children of mixed or foreign parentage. However, the notion of “handicap” is still widely used to refer to a lack of skills in the French language, which leads to negative attitudes toward the children concerned. Such stigmatization actually goes counter to integration and may foster balkanization along ethnic lines, which is contrary to the French model of national unity. Varro warns against automatically equating “mixed origins” with “problems” and isolating children of mixed/foreign families within the school system. Rather, the children's foreign background and knowledge of another culture or language should be regarded as positive features to be exploited.

Chap. 6 is an attempt to characterize both the actual and perceived conditions of immigrants and foreigners in French society at large, as shaped by the lingering Jacobin model of a homogeneous society – which is totally contrary to a multicultural perspective grounded in cultural relativism. Varro notes that there is more and more mixing at the individual level in French society, particularly in urban areas, where people live fragmented lives and frequently come in contact with strangers. Most foreign-born individuals live and work among French people, and they often belong to voluntary associations that are open to all. Hence, Varro suggests a model of a “mixed culture” grounded in the recognition and appreciation of “the Other” and his or her role in social change at various levels of society (family, school, neighborhood, etc). This means getting away from any kind of discourse that reinforces images based on a monolingual and monocultural model of society; it also means recognizing the existence of multiple (or mixed) identities. To those who might regard this approach as a threat to the unity of France as a nation, Varro retorts that French people can be trusted to manage this mixed identity without falling into the trap of ethnicization. And, as she sees it, the recognition of differences within the French nation actually does conform to the Jacobin model of égalité for all: in fact, it is precisely the lack of recognition of differences that deviates from this principle, creating inequalities in the way people are treated.

In conclusion, Varro sees mixité as a dynamic and unifying concept that, through language, could modify the images French people have of their nation, setting the stage for more tolerance and also a higher level of recognition of one another. The author of this timely book is to be congratulated for her message of hope, as well as her painstaking analysis of verbal material related to a very complex social issue – the condition of immigrants and foreigners in a western European democracy at the turn of the millennium.