Magazine / Current / France / Background | 01/08/2008

Urban riots in France

October 27, 2005: two young frenchmen are electrocuted in a transformer while escaping from the police. Thereupon, the "november riots" started all over France and lasted for three weeks. What could be the solution for the French suburbs?

The French concept of citizenship

Following the riots of November 2005, the « republican » model was the subject of heated discussion with regard to its capacity for maintaining social cohesion. In the case of France, this is based upon a national concept of citizenship that unites all individuals around one nation, one language, one State, and one set of laws, independently of their social, religious, ethnoracial or territorial differences.

Photo: AP

Supported by a strong political definition of secularity, in principle, this model of integration rejects religious practices and identities outside the public sphere, the State's only duty being that of having to guarantee freedom of worship. Secular state schools are thought to be institutions that serve a purpose of social integration, supposed to guarantee everyone equality of opportunity, independently of his social origin and his religious persuasion. In broader terms, the provident State constitutes a basic pillar of social solidarity through the strong presence of the public services in the area of social life. The basic idea was that by being or becoming French, it was accepted that people belonged to this « national community of citizens » and so reflected the intimate, private sphere of the other dimensions of their identity.

In the strong sense of the term, this concerns a project and a political vision of the cohesion of social integration, but this attitude implies that everyone is equally guaranteed equality of opportunity, wherever they are on French territory. Because, through the State and its public services, French society claimed that it could guarantee relative homogeneity of the conditions required for integration and social success over the entire territory, this model could have the legitimacy that was indispensable for maintaining strong social cohesion.

This « republican integration » provision was opposed to historical and economic contexts which made them less effective. In spite of the struggles connected with decolonisation, the period of « Trente Glorieuses » (= Thirty Glorious Years) that followed the Second World War correspond in certain ways to the golden age on this model. Economic growth and the development of the provident State, belief in progress, strong political and union representation of the working class, and strong upward social mobility favoured strong integration. That of the European immigrants of the first part of the XXth century was not achieved without knocks or violence. But the following generations (their children born in France) have reaped the benefit of this period, not only as a result of becoming French but also by integrating through school and work, and are experiencing upward social mobility. If their parents were not spared segregation, stigmatisation and discrimination, for the greater part, they will be protected from these.

However, certain conditions, particularly those connected to economic growth, belief in a better future and the power of the workers' movement, gave it a stronger foundation and made it more credible. The demand for manpower instigated by the reconstruction and modernisation of France a led to the arrival of the first generations of immigrants from former colonies and in particular the Maghreb. This wave of immigrants, in the beginning mainly made up of single men, arrived with plans to return home. They crowded together in shanty towns and suffered rejection, whipped up by French society being entangled in the Algerian war, and more broadly, in clashes and tensions connected with decolonisation. Their working conditions and accommodation were unpleasant and their position as « foreigners » coming from former colonies made them into second class citizens. This first generation's experience of humiliation and exploitation constitutes collective memory.

During the nineteen 1970's and 1980's, for many, the horizon for returning to their countries of origin became more distant. Their definitive installation was translated by the family group and the arrival of the second generation, born, educated and socialised in France. These « French people of immigrant origin », as distinct from the preceding generations, descended from European immigration, were punished twice as much because of their ethnoracial characteristics and an economic situation that was considerably less favourable in terms of economic growth and employment. This separation between what is implied by the « republican model of integration » in terms of equality of opportunity, meritocracy, rights of citizenship, and the real situation of stigmatisation, segregation and discrimination was based upon on their social precariousness, that of their parents, and their « immigrant » origin constituted one of the major causes of frustration and resentment in these young French people.

Structural and objective reasons for the increasing tensions in the young people of the working-class suburbs

The riots of November 2005 can be interpreted not only as a violent response to the insulting proposals put forward by a government minister and the death of two young people, but also as the more general expression of a profound feeling of relegation and disqualification by young people in the working-class suburbs. In order to understand these events, it is necessary to take into consideration segregation and ethnoracial dimensions. Not all of the working-class suburbs were affected by the riots; some young working-class people not living in the large blocks of low-cost flats and less subject to racial discrimination did not get very greatly involved in the riots. These last-mentioned were certainly an expression of relegation and deep resentment, which brought into play the social (working-class origin), spatial (downgraded and stigmatised flat blocks, with a high level of segregation) and ethnoracial (young people descended from African immigration, directly affected by discrimination and racism) dimensions. Insisting on these dimensions did not mean denying the precariousness of the position of young people in general, nor the increasing generational inequalities in access to employment and upward social mobility. This makes it possible to show that the riots did not develop only on the basis of social class and age, but that they immediately bring into play the urban forms of precariousness of a working-class fringe and most particularly of those arising from immigration.

The intensity of this resentment can only be understood when it is reduced to differences with other categories and other areas. It is also by comparison with other people and concerning other people that this perception of a situation then interpreted in terms of discrimination develops. The nature, intensity and effects of « discrimination » affect the populations of the poorest areas, the characteristics of whose inhabitants are precisely those on which the major part of the discrimination is based.

Urban segregation influences educational segregation, not only in quantitative terms (concentration of most disadvantaged pupils in some institutions), but also qualitative ones, by favouring an interpretation of the situations where there are difficulties and failures as the result of deliberate unfavourable treatment on the part of the educational institution and its staff. So we see the young people themselves resorting to explaining their difficult situation or failure in terms of more diffuse discrimination, for which the intentionality of the discrimination tends to prevail over the structural and/or personal elements of disarrangement/dysfunction. It is actually a combination of both aspects, on the one hand the intentional nature, and on the other hand, the perception of this intentionality by the people referred to, which generally constitutes the point of departure of a revolt or large-scale mobilisation, especially when discrimination flouts current rights and rules.

What paths can be contemplated?

A first step would be to continue to encourage action affecting the whole of the urban fabric, in the various urban areas, through policies that favour intermingling, and not only in the least favoured districts, in order to diversify the conditions of urban life. This would avoid a place being associated with a population or groups that are already stigmatised, whose visibility in an area is liable to increase the effects. Accommodation and in particular school are the two main areas of action but not the only ones. The reference to the Solidarity and Urban Renewal Act (obligation to provide 20 % of public housing in communes with more than 3500 inhabitants), as well as thorough reform of the charter and the educational system are prescribed. A second step consists rather of licensing a territorialistic approach, centred on these areas, without necessarily aiming at increased intermingling. In this context, at the same time it is necessary « to improve the quality of life in these districts », which is not a matter of intermingling policies, and acting on assisting mobility, even if there is no question of having districts disappear, to be rebuilt elsewhere.

The first route encounters problems, which experience on both an international and national scale requires should not fail to be appreciated. The schedule of intermingling policies certainly varies: sometimes positive in terms of local dynamics, and sometimes without any effect on social relationships, due to conflicts. Analysing educational developments in the Sensitive Urban Areas of d'Ile-de-France during the period 1990-1999 shows that changes at the margin of the social composition of these areas may have positive results: the fact that the proportion of managerial level households increased from 3 % to 5 %, has significant effects on the increase in the proportion of those with university degrees. Intermingling as an element of public policy could not simply remain a principle. It has to become incarnated in actions that are mindful of local conditions. From this point of view, strengthening use of the SRU (= Urban Solidarity and Renewal) Act and the dedensification action undertaken by the ANRU (Agence Nationale pour la Rénovation Urbaine = National Urban Renewal Agency) are not contradictory but complementary. However, there is a need for extreme vigilance in the choice of the type of accommodation rebuilt, in order not to lose sight of re-accommodating the families with the most modest means, on the pretext of diversifying the environment. In fact there is a risk of favouring the middle class, which constitutes a much more attractive electorate for the mayors than the working and immigrant classes, especially where the price of land has increased considerably.

The council districts are still largely places of temporary residence and serve as a « trampoline ». There is no use in accentuating the « flight » of the households that are most committed to the path of mobility or that of the pupils who will attend prestigious institutions. Here there is « aspiration to be the best » which serves a certain idea of meritocacry and diversity of élites, but which does not contribute to restoring the dignity of the others who are left behind, according to the French concept of excellence, which does not grapple with the question of other forms of acnkowledgment and valuation of skills. Without combining an action in favour of mobility and maintaining social diversity, there is a risk either of experiencing an escape via the top, eliminating the effects of emulation and promotion, the feeling of a common space, or pursuing territorial policies that do not gain support and become diluted.

How can it be ensured that social and ethnic diversity are perceived less as a foil, since it is assimilated into social and educational disorder, and more as enrichment of exchange? The struggle against urban segregation is opposed neither to strong recognition of independent forms of expression and organisation of the working class, nor to an ambitious policy for disqualified districts. Rather than opposing these two orientations, they could be developed simultaneously: granting most resources to the territories the least well provided for, while still avoiding social branding, which may work against these areas. So the problem is not that specific groups adapt to the localities, in a way that is more or less constrained, but rather that their distribution in the town is accentuated by their spatial translation of inegalitarian social relations.

Further articles on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Education, » Migration, » Integration, » Minorities, » Demographics, » France
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Education, » Migration, » Integration, » Minorities, » Demographics, » France