Les émeutes urbaines : causes institutionnelles et absence de reconnaissance

Abstract

Whereas the majority of the French sociologists tend to insist on the social determinants of the French urban riots of the last 25 years, Belgian sociologists also draw into perspective specific ethnic dimensions, an approach also present in British & American analyses. A widening of the French framework, largely focused on the why of the riots, the authors attack what they consider to be the French republican denial & its incapacity to perceive France as an ethnical society in which everyday racism is institutionalized not only in daily interactions, but also in the heart of institutions & social representations. Based on recent sociological & political scientific studies on social mobilization & urban policies, this article proposes an analysis of the definition of official citizenship & refused recognition of stigmatized groups, with inclusion of government & governmental institutions as objects of study, it will in the end be applied to interpret the reduction of Belgium urban riots. O. van Zijl