[ Is violence explainable? ]

Let me come back to the violent riots in France in October-November (cf. this blog, 12.11.2005). Why did the violence spread in the Paris suburbs and why did the situation in Marseille stay relatively calm? - asks Le Monde in a background article on 15 December 2005.

One explanation is reinforced police presence, but also other factors seem to have played a role: a tighter civil society network than in other French cities, more social/youth workers, the absence of excentered and segregated "banlieues", as Marseille's poorer neighbourhoods are close to the centre, a socially more mixed city, social networks:

Nos parents sont arrivés depuis des générations, ils se

connaissent comme dans les villages. Mon père a travaillé aux cimenteries Lafarge,

mon oncle à la Sucrière, leurs copains aux Tuileries, et tout le monde est

resté là : ça fait des réseaux incroyables. A Paris et dans les

banlieues, ils n'ont pas cette histoire et ce vécu communs. (Samia Ghali, Vice-President

of the Regional Council of Marseille, quoted by Le

Monde)

Photo: A HLM (habitation à loyer modéré, social housing block) in Marseille.

17,5% of Marseille's 775 000 inhabitants live in social housing buildings. Source: Le

Monde.