Representing french citizenship and belonging in la desintégration (2011) by philippe faucon

Abstract

Terrorism and religious radicalization have become serious concerns for politicians and public intellectuals in France in the past two decades. In this chapter, Ramona Mielusel presents the worrisome Islamic radicalization and terrorist actions of French youth, seen from an artistic angle as an internal threat to the national identity principles instated in the Republican model. In the film La Désintégration (2011), Philippe Faucon underlines the failures in the process of social and cultural integration in France. Using the insights of Michel Foucault, this chapter focuses on the analysis of the power relations involved in deconstructing contemporary French public and political discourses on integration. Faucon's movie draws attention to how a nation can be disciplined and punished from within, thereby destabilizing the hegemonic discourse of the state.