Riots in France in 2005

Résumé du document

From the middle of October to the end of November 2005, French society lived through the most violent urban unrest since the 1968 student-worker riots. The balance sheet is both worrying and upsetting. About 274 cities were affected by these riots, with one death, 126 policemen and firefighters injured, more than 3000 people arrested, hundred of schools damaged and about 9000 vehicles torched. The riots were precipitated by the death of two teenagers in Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb of Paris: Bouna Traore and Zyed Benna, 15 and 17 year-old boys. They were electrocuted as they ran through an electrical power station, apparently fleeing the police. The reaction was immediate in the district of Clichy because a lot of inhabitants believed that the two young boys were victims of an unfair discrimination. Twenty-three cars were burned, the centre of assistance of the fire department was destroyed, windows were broken and bus shelters put on fire. Hardly a few days later this violence spread to the neighboring suburbs, and then to the whole area of Ile de France. Within two weeks later, the riots could be observed on a national scale. However, more disturbing than the violent aspect of these riots, was the denunciation of the French model of integration.

Extraits

[...] With the unrests of 2007 in France ? A. Can we analyse these riots through the prism of anterious foreign riots, especially european ones ? Urban unrest in Europe : the same expression to answer to the different ills affecting European society. The France riots distinguish themselves because of their huge scale, even a national scale in 2005. In Germany, for instance, in spite of the importance of the turkey community, urban unrests remain rare. Likewise, in Belgium, in spite of the murder of a Marroco man in 2002 in Anvers, there were no reactions such as the ones in 2005 in France or no real dynamics fostering these riots. [...]

[...] The simple fact of living in a district known as depressed or violent area is a brake on finding employment because of the prejudices we have described in the first part. Therefore, the rioters in 2005 claimed for the possibility to have access to qualified jobs or jobs responsibilities. This element is closely linked with the issue of schools in estates. To sum up, according to Lagrange, the riots in 2005 mainly happened in cities where the wealth discrepancy between the town center and the outskirts was the most important and impassable, conveying a huge spatial segregation. [...]

[...] A recent survey from the INED (National Institute for Demographic Studies) shows that the gap between children with Maghrebian, African or Turkish origins and children with French or European origins is really impressive. For instance, the unemployment of people with Algerian origins reaches 22/23 per cent. For the “natives” (individuals born in France, with two parents born in France) the unemployment reaches 10/13 per cent, whatever the study level. For children with Moroccan, Tunisian or Turkish parents, the gap is similar. Besides, girls with the same origins are more often affected by unemployment ( 29.4 per cent)9. [...]

[...] The rioters in 2005 were totally assimilated in the French society but cannot manage to be integrated into. Assimilation can be carried out only through the willingness of people themselves whereas integration is usually done thanks to public policies, namely housing, education, employment, and 3 Constitution française, article mise à jour Higonnet, Sister Republics, Harvard UP Republicanism in France and in the United States file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Nico/LOCALS~1/Temp/definition%20assimilation%20integration.htm, Immigrés, assimilation, intégration, insertion : quelques définition social security programs. Those who took part in the riots in 2005 were perfectly assimilated into the French society since, for instance, they spoke French, they went to the French republican school, they carried out their military service . [...]

[...] Would they be foreign wherever they live ? This double rejection lead to a deep identity crisis. This double rejection is one of the explanation to analyze the idea that descents of migrants can sometimes substitute their national belonging to a religious one. This frustration particularly affects the young with foreign origins. The French riots in 2005 were mainly due to teenagers, lost in the society and incapable of defining their identity. Acculturation gradually entails a loss of reference points. [...]