Conclusion

Abstract

In France in recent years there has been a growing debate among politicians, journalists and academics about what has been termed ‘exclusion’, the deepening social, economic and political marginalisation of the poor, of unemployed youth, and of ethnic minorities. Attention has focused in particular on the ‘banlieue’ [suburb], a key-word that has come to signify the enormous, high-rise estates of public housing located on the fringes of the major cities, ‘ghettoised’ zones associated with rebellious minority youth, educational failure, the ‘breakdown’ of the family, criminality, rising drug abuse, and rioting.’ There is a widespread fear that alienation, particularly of youth of Maghrebian descent (Beurs), is creating the conditions under which Islamic fundamentalism can find a growing support base. The police hunt and shooting of Khaled Kelkal, a disaffected youth from the banlieue of Vaulx-en-Velin, who was recruited by fundamentalists to carry out bombings, appeared to confirm these anxieties. The considerable impact of Kassovitz’s film La Haine, which gives a powerful picture of anomie, frustration, rebellious minority youth and police violence in the banlieue, was also symptomatic of widespread public interest and concern.

Mais pourquoi les Algériens sont les plus détéstées? Qu’est-ce qu’ils ont?

(Said, Algerian immigrant)¹