The Blue Funk in the Fish-Tank: a Study on the French Banlieue Riots

Abstract

The problems of French suburbs came to the fore in the early 1980s, particularly during what was known as Hot Summer of 1981. This study investigates the social polarization between the poor and the affluent caused spatial segregation in the banlieus of France. Situated about fifteen kilometers east of Paris in the area of Seine Saint-Denis, the housing projects, or habitation a loyer modere (HLM) as they are known in France, of Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil were constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s mostly in peripheral areas. HLM were considered as an answer for the increasing housing needs after the Second World War, particularly for low-income families, although large numbers of middle- class families lived there in the early post-war period. And in their early years, they improved the living conditions of many families. Today the neighborhoods are mostly inhabited by multicultural minority groups, a mix of low-income, immigrant, North African, and Muslim groups. The multicultural banlieues are isolated and suffer poor infrastructure and poor transportation links to the urban center and neighboring towns. This study focuses on the causes of violence and crime and the relationship of power and powerlessness in an urban context. Gentrification enters in to the picture in the recent years for the banlieues' cases as globalization has pushed renewal projects into city peripheries and old city centers across the world.