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Social Identification Strategies and the Dynamics of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’

Navigating Life in Front of the Budget DIA-Supermarket

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Abstract

This chapter studies how young inhabitants deal and cope with the spatial, racialized and gendered stereotypes that are often imposed on them from the ‘outside’. In search for identity and dignity, I argue, young inhabitants navigate life through diverging strategies: (1) they escape the neighbourhood; (2) they contest stereotypical images through contentious performances; and (3) they confirm and act out the image of ‘gangster from the ghetto’. This chapter documents how young people do not simply follow one strategy, but combine and switch between them. In going back and forth between strategies, young residents of 4000sud need to think about both the dominant outside expectations (being a law-abiding citizen) and the inside expectations of their peers on the street (gaining street credibility in the neighbourhood).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Diary notes 1 July 2010.

  2. 2.

    Although Wimmer (2008a, 2008b, 2013) focuses specifically on ethnic boundaries, his framework is more broadly applicable to other types of social identities.

  3. 3.

    A couple of days earlier, several newspapers reported about a police operation in 4000sud that seized 100 kilos of cannabis and a number of arms. See, for example, Le Parisien (10 June 2010) ‘La Courneuve: saisie de cannabis et d’armes à la cité des 4000’; or Le Figaro (10 June 2010) ‘Cannabis: 100 kg saisis à la Courneuve’.

  4. 4.

    Diary notes 12 June 2010.

  5. 5.

    Interview Sylvain, 24 June 2010.

  6. 6.

    Of course, they build strongly here on Henri Tajfel’s classic definition of social identity: ‘that part of an individual self-concept which derives from his membership of a social group’ (1978, p. 63).

  7. 7.

    Interview Aicha, 26 July 2010.

  8. 8.

    Diary notes 20 June 2011.

  9. 9.

    A drug runner.

  10. 10.

    Diary notes 11 July 2011.

  11. 11.

    Diary notes 4 May 2011.

  12. 12.

    Interview David, 1 June 2010.

  13. 13.

    The classic observation of a ‘Golden Age’, the happy past without violence and criminality is also described, for example, by Lepoutre (2001, p. 53) and Stébé and Marchal (2009, p. 54).

  14. 14.

    Interview Marie, 7 June 2010.

  15. 15.

    Diary notes 13 July 2011.

  16. 16.

    Interview Idriss, 2 August 2011.

  17. 17.

    Secondary school diploma (lycée).

  18. 18.

    Interview Salah, 18 July 2011.

  19. 19.

    Interview Ahmed, 2 August 2011.

  20. 20.

    TF1 is the most popular private national television channel in France.

  21. 21.

    Interview Amira, 30 May 2011.

  22. 22.

    Interview Michel, 2 August 2011.

  23. 23.

    Interview Moussa and friends, 9 June 2011.

  24. 24.

    See, for example, Le Parisien (20 March 2011) ‘Tirs en plein jour à Sevran’; Le Monde (4 June 2011) ‘Sevran. Le maire réclame l’armée pour lutter contre les trafiquants de drogue’; Le Parisien (20 June 2011) ‘L’armée contre la drogue: onze élus opposes’.

  25. 25.

    Although Wimmer defines transvaluation as a strategy to boundary-making, in practice it concentrates more on the normative valuation of identity content.

  26. 26.

    My translation; original lyrics: ‘Ma Courneuve/Elle danse dans ma tête/Et rien ne l’empêche/De tourner sans cesse/La Courneuve/Je ne sais plus/Si je suis d’ici/Ou bien d’ailleurs/La Courneuve/C’est que nous vivons/Que nous apprenons/A aimer la vie’.

  27. 27.

    Interview Michel, 2 August 2011.

  28. 28.

    The equivalent of a master’s degree.

  29. 29.

    Interview Idriss, 7 July 2010.

  30. 30.

    Interview Sylvain, 24 June 2010.

  31. 31.

    See, for more information, the municipality website: https://lacourneuve.fr/.

  32. 32.

    The equivalent of a master’s degree.

  33. 33.

    Diary notes 6 July 2010. The Marseillaise is the French national anthem.

  34. 34.

    Liliane Bettencourt was one of the principal shareholders of cosmetic company L’Oreal, and belonged to the wealthiest persons in the world. In 2010, she became involved in a growing number of scandals. Hassan is talking here about the rumours that Bettencourt had avoided paying taxes on a part of her fortune; her controversial relationship with Eric Woerth, Budget Minister at the time, who had supposedly proposed to let his wife manage Bettencourt’s wealth; and the secret envelopes with cash that Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly received from Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign.

  35. 35.

    Interview Hassan, 16 July 2010.

  36. 36.

    Diary notes 9 July 2010.

  37. 37.

    For example, the word ‘noir’ becomes ‘renoi’. Sometimes verlan words are taken over by mainstream society. These words are then sometimes re-verlanized. The word ‘arab’, for example, was first turned into ‘beur’ and later re-verlanized into ‘rebeu’ (see, e.g., Lefkowitz, 1989). The slang is sometimes mixed with words from other languages, such as the Arab ‘wesh’ (what’s up?). But more than in words, this strategy is performed and inscripted (see also Sarré et al., 2007, ‘Lexik des Cités’, a dictionary made by youngsters from Parisian banlieue Evry. It covers the most frequently used words and expressions among young inhabitants of the French cités).

  38. 38.

    Diary notes 23 June 2011.

  39. 39.

    Diary notes 7 July 2011.

  40. 40.

    Interview Mariam, 20 July 2010.

  41. 41.

    Interview Yannick, 8 July 2011.

  42. 42.

    Interview Xavier, 20 June 2011.

  43. 43.

    Interview Idriss, 2 August 2011.

  44. 44.

    Diary notes 11 July 2011.

  45. 45.

    The most popular private national television channel in France.

  46. 46.

    See also what Dubet (1987) called ‘Le trou noir’.

  47. 47.

    Interview Oumar, 30 June 2011.

  48. 48.

    Utas did research into social navigation among women during the civil war in Liberia. Depending on the situation, women sometimes presented themselves as victims, at other times as warriors.

  49. 49.

    Interview Sylvain, 24 June 2010.

  50. 50.

    Interview Oumar, 30 June 2011.

  51. 51.

    Interview Leila, 17 July 2010.

  52. 52.

    Interview Jamel, 16 June 2011.

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  1. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Luuk Slooter

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Slooter, L. (2019). Social Identification Strategies and the Dynamics of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’. In: The Making of the Banlieue. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18210-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18210-6_5

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