NCJ Number
225836
Journal
New Directions for Youth Development Issue: 119 Dated: Fall 2008 Pages: 55-74
Date Published
2008
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Utilizing the occurrence of two large mobilizations of French youth in a short period of time, this article reflects on the social cohesion in French society which boasts a strong integration model, known as the republican model of integration.
Abstract
The French republican model of integration is based on a national concept of citizenship that negates using certain criteria, such as ethnicity, race, or religion to categorize individuals and treat them as specific groups. In theory, this means that the state interacts with the individual independent of these characteristics, implying equal treatment for all. This article reflects on the methodological and theoretical aspects of analyzing this type of social movement and its impact on public policies designed to foster integration in France. Comparing a youth riot and a student movement (occurring separately, but in a short period of time), two mass mobilizations of French youth, allows for the highlighting of the fundamental differences at the heart of the two respective groups, revealing two different forms of collection action. It also allows for the identification of factors and dynamics at work in each case. Youth in both groups differed not only in their academic, social, ethnic, and urban characteristics, but also in terms of the individual and collective action they turned to. This comparison is a way of examining the recourse to violence as a mode of expression and of making individual and collective demands. Social recognition can be used to explain the violence that occurred in these social movements. In this way, recourse to violent forms of expression by working-class urban youth should be linked to the strength of the resentment they feel when they are faced with the contradictions and dead-ends of the republican model of integration. 2 figures and 27 notes