French Muslim Youth and the Banlieues of Rage

The recent riots that spread across the banlieues of France's big cities from the end of October to the middle of November 2005 have been explained by some sections of the media as an 'Islamic' rebellion even though not all the rioting youth are of Muslim origin. Others, especially some sections of the French media and the Centre-Right interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, have described them as acts of criminality and delinquency. This helps the French State to turn a blind eye on the real problems and causes of inequalities in the banlieues. In this paper, I argue that the rebellion of the youth of the banlieues cannot be explained only in terms of economic deprivation and marginality. I suggest that colonial legacy has played an important role in framing the policies of integration for these young people. Therefore, the revolt is to do more with the way the youth of the banlieues are considered as second-class citizens bearing the legacy of colonial stereotypes.