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The French conception of positive discriminations does not address ethnic differences but social and economic exclusion. It seeks to overcome the state’s failure in its role as purveyor of equality. It consists in a special effort aiming to re-establish equality of opportunity in favor of persons that the egalitarian mechanisms have failed to reach. In order to be accepted by society and to be useful for the people concerned, this effort should be temporary and based on the active participation of the beneficiaries.