C3RI Research Seminar - Rioting in French banlieues: Causes and complexities with Matthew Moran.
Speaker: Matthew Moran (King's College London)
Matthew holds a PhD in French Studies from University College London and is currently a Research Associate at King's College London. He is the author of The Republic and the Riots: Exploring Urban Violence in French Suburbs, 2005-2007 (Peter Lang, 2012).
Title: Rioting in French banlieues: Causes and complexities
In 2005, the deaths of two teenagers, electrocuted as they hid from police, sparked riots in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. Riots in the banlieues are not new, however the events of 2005 signalled a new stage in the evolution French urban disorder. Typically limited to the immediate spatial surroundings of the banlieue in question, the events of 2005 went beyond past events in terms of their scale and amplitude. For a period of three weeks cars burned, buildings were attacked and inhabitants of these areas clashed with the forces of order. The gravity of the situation provoked the government to declare a state of emergency, invoking emergency laws dating from colonial times. This talk will explore the causes and complexities of these riots with a particular focus on the issues of identity and policing.