suburbs

In Christophe Guilluy’s view, there are two Frances: the urban France of towns and cities, where opportunities are considerable, and the peripheral France of villages, where populations feel ignored and abandoned by public policy. This contrast has caused a lot of ink to flow but is highly debatable and no doubt more ideological than scientific.

Past outbreaks of unrest in the French banlieues have confirmed that libraries were a favourite target during riots. Sociologists Denis Merklen and Numa Murard have investigated the conflicted relationship that some young people have with written culture. They are sharing their results with us in this article.

Youth gangs are often discussed but rarely investigated. In an ethnographic study that examines families, schools, and the street, sociologist Marwan Mohammed reconstructs the principles according to which these groups are formed in the Paris region.

The sociologist Michel Kokoreff takes a fresh look at the controversy aroused by Hugues Lagrange’s book Le déni des cultures. He urges us not to neglect the substance of the debate and analyzes the book’s theses in detail before subjecting them to criticism.