ABSTRACT
The following two chapters of this book are devoted to trying to understand the underlying causes of the French riots. We aim to uncover relevant insights by: (a) using descriptions and analyses of the 2001 UK riots as a possible basis of enlightenment; and (b) employing recent studies by French scholars of possible reasons for the conflict that occurred. Before embarking on this agenda, we are pausing in this chapter to reflect on the main characteristics of two previous ‘riot eras’ occurring in recent British history: the innercity riots of the 1980s and the 1990s disorders on white-dominated, working-class housing estates. This review is undertaken in the belief that the theories and ideas already expounded in relation to these riots have much to contribute to our understanding of the French disorders. In each case, we present an overview of events, followed by an outline of relevant lay and academic theories. The corresponding purpose of Chapter 2 is to provide an overview and analytical discussion of French riots occurring two decades prior to the disorders of 2005.
