The connection between globalization and the 2005 riots in France

The connection between globalization and the 2005 riots in France Evelien Florijn 130724, 07-10-2013 A series of riots occurred in the October and November of 2005 in the banlieues (suburbs) of Paris, following the deaths of two teenagers. They were fleeing for chasing police fearing an identity check, but were electrocuted after climbing in an electric relay station1. The then Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, declared the police free from blame and called the event an unfortunate accident. This started anti-police protests that rapidly spread across the country. 10,000 cars were torched and 3,000 people arrested in one week2. To try to regain control the French government officially proclaimed a state of emergency which authorizes the introduction of a curfew, the closure of meeting-places and allows police chiefs to expel foreigners who participated in the events. This law had only been used once before in 1984 after a wave of politically inspired assassinations in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia3. The riots spread to other cities, and subsided until the 17th of November.

These riots are an example of conflicting (sub)cultures, the poor banlieues versus the ‘superior’ Paris and authorities. The banlieues are characterized by a large number of immigrants, low income, unemployment, crime and as being zones of profound boredom4. Article 1 of the French Constitution states that all citizens are equal, and there are no “minorities” in France3. However this has important shortcomings in practice, as racism and discrimination are very much alive in the French society and causes these two sub-cultures. This is likely to cause a culture clash, like described by Samuel Huntington, who predicts great clashes between different religions5. However in Paris the average age of the rioters was 16 years old, most of whom were ‘second generation’ immigrants and thus fully fledged French citizens, together with children from unemployed workers of French decent6. The factor of religion was conspicuously absent in these events. Different causes are posed in the media but also in later analysis. In this essay I will discuss several of these proclaimed causes, mostly focusing on the effects of globalization within these.

France has always been a country of immigrants, with no less than 23% of the French population of foreign origin in 19994. This itself is a product of globalization, and poses several difficulties. Most of the immigrants are low-educated, causing the integration to be slower and more challenging. The model of immigration was based on three pillars: school, compulsory military service and work, but general military draft was abolished and the economic slow-down made jobs increasingly scarce4. Racial segregation is very common, despite Article 1 of the French Constitution which states that every French citizen is equal, and even practiced by police. In some ways it seems like France still sees these immigrants as part of their colonization, creating an ‘interior colonization’ in suburban areas6. This difference between the inner city and the banlieues is stressed by decisions made by the (mostly rightwing) government, who chose to focus on public safety and fighting crime, instead of investing in social programs4. These riots can be seen as important evidence that these young men feel French, but are not accepted as such3. This suggests that globalization is not (yet) fully integrated in the French society.

Another structural cause for the problem is found in the field of urban planning. Globalization is seen as one of the main reasons of city growth. This also happened in Paris in the mid-1950’s, when a severe housing crises hit France. The French authorities responded to this by building clusters of cheap apartment buildings, but this turned out to be a social disaster4. The unattractive neighborhoods caused everyone able to afford it to move away, leaving only the underclass behind and creating zones of highly concentrated social pathology. Living in such a neighborhood is a curse, since it’s almost impossible to get out. A highly territorial and protective sub-culture developed with clear rules: either you belong here, it is your place and you get respect, or you are a stranger and you better get out, which includes the police4. This is why the riots didn’t spread into the inner city, people don’t venture far away from their familiar areas. Feelings of social and spatial alienation amongst inhabitants of the banlieues are likely to have contributed to the riots as well.

Mary Kaldor introduces a new type of war: globalization wars, which are based on identity politics and where ‘‘movements’ mobilize around ethnic, racial or religious identity for the purpose of claiming state power’8. Remarkable is that these wars do not have include nation-states or nation-boundaries. A mixture of these identity politics and the hybridization of society due to globalization seems to be an important player in the 2005 riots. The rioting youth may have a mixture of ethnic backgrounds (hybridization), but they form a group with one vision, to be accepted into society, and recognized. They are bounded together by racial segregation.

The use of media is seen as one of the key contributors to the riots. This is also where the influence of globalization is most visible. Audiovisual media played an important role in the spreading of violence in two ways6. Firstly the publicizing and broadcasting of the events provided inspiration and examples for future rioters. Secondly the media provided the number of torched vehicles, resulting in a daily battle between different towns trying to outdo each other. Some French media sources decided not to report the extent of damage to avoid this competition. Another reason for censoring the coverage of the riots was to prevent increased popularity of far-right politicians, who view the banlieues as dangerous areas and suggested to revoke the citizenship of the rioting youth. They called for legal action against rap musicians, stating that they incited violence and racism in the riots9. Though the rappers admit to vent the anger of an alienated underclass, they feel like their music reflects reality. Technological innovations and the network of globalization make it easy for music to spread, but it seems a bit enthusiastic to suggest that rap music contributed to the riots. The right-wing politicians seem eager to blame the social underclass.

The presence of new media such as the internet and mobile phones made it easy for the youths to coordinate with one another and exchange information6. Riots can be organized in a matter of minutes due to these technological innovations. This has changed the way in which groups of people join together but also the way in which we fight a ‘war’. Another form of new media also left it’s marks on the 2005 riots. Bloggers challenged the control of information by journalists and politicians and allowed the audience to express their uncensored opinion. This is also a new way of sharing information. Blogs might actually provide a more honest perspective of the situation than news channels and/or papers, because it provides a lot of different views at once, making it possible for the reader to form his or her own opinion. The censoring nature of traditional media is seen as one of the causes of social

segregation. During the riots, most news channels stated that the rioters were Muslims fighting a religious war1, this was however not true and is a good example of how media can show only a very narrow perspective of the occurring events. This then spreads beyond nation boundaries, due to globalization, and caused the rest of the world to see a distorted image of the actual events taking place, making other countries more likely to support the harsh measurements taken against the rioters. It must also be mentioned that the media might have contributed to the cause of these riots by not showing and advertising different ethnicities6.

These riots would not have happened without the influence of globalization. The social segregation of the banlieues is caused by migration induced side effects, which can be seen more often in our globalized world and shows that apparently our communities are not as globalized as we like to believe.

Globalization also played its part in spreading the riots through media, which started a competing battle between the enflamed tows and provided a source of inspiration for new rioters. It appears that we are entering a world with a new type of war, one that becomes increasingly mobile because of technological innovations. These globalization wars seem the product of social segregation and the lack of a representative government, when looking at ethnicities. The only way to prevent these clashes is to ensure that our societies are also fully globalized, finally complying with Article 1 of the French Constitution.

1.

Graff, J. (2005, 16/11). Why Paris is burning. Time. Via: http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1125401,00.html

2.

Daniels, P., Bradshaw, M., Shaw, D. & Sidaway, J. (2012). An introduction to human geography. Harlow: Pearson Educated Limited. (P. 224, 225)

3.

Pech, L. (2005, 16/11). French Riots: A Failure of the Elite, Not the Republic. Jurist. Via: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2005/11/french-riots-failure-of-elite-not.php

4.

Laurence, J., Vaisse, J. (2005, 01/12). Understanding Urban Riots in France. Brookings. Via: http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2005/12/01france-laurence

5.

Nederveen Pieterse, J. (1996), Globalisation and Culture: Three Paradigms. Chapter six (Cultural Globalization), section 6.1 in: Mansbach, R.W. & E. Rhodes, eds. (2013), Introducing Globalization: Analysis and Readings, pp. 135144. London: Sage.

6.

Canet, R., Pech, L. & Stewart, M. (2008, November). France’s Burning Issue: Understanding the Urban Riots of November 2005.

7.

Daniels, P., Bradshaw, M., Shaw, D. & Sidaway, J. (2012). An introduction to human geography. Harlow: Pearson Educated Limited. (P. 446)

8.

Tomlinson, J. (2003), Globalization and Cultural Identity. Chapter 23 of Held, McGrew, Goldblatt & Perraton (eds.), The Global Transformation Reader, Polity Press, pp. 269-277.

9.

Poggioli, S. (2005, 14/12). French Rap Musicians Blamed for Violence. NPR. Via: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5052650