The 2005 Riots in France: The International Impact of Domestic Violence

Abstract

Following the Autumn 2005 riots in France, many observers in both the popular and the academic press argued that the urban violence that occurred over a two-week period was an open challenge to the French Republican model of citizenship, which does not recognise racial, ethnic or religious affiliations. Many experts focused their analyses of the riots on the relationship between discrimination and ethnic mobilisation in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Often, the discussions surrounding the uprisings were embedded in the ongoing debate between liberal and communitarian notions of citizenship and the lack of ethnic recognition in France. The articles in this special issue of JEMS indicate another interpretation of the events of October–November 2005. According to much of the comparative analysis presented in this collection, the riots were not a challenge to the French Republic but a demonstration of its schizophrenic characteristics.