Paris is Burning

I begin this post as I used to start letters -- when I used to write them -- by apologizing for my absence. I've been more than a little bit preoccupied by economics and statistics lately -- doing homework again is quite a shock -- but lately I've found a little bit of time to think about the insistence on, or persistence of, real cities and local issues. In particular, I've been reading a lot about Paris lately.

The latest coverage seems to indicate that the riots in Paris are slowly ebbing (NYT). Nonetheless, the coverage in Europe must be searingly intense, if only because most European countries seem to have relatively large and distinct Muslim communities. The Washington Post has a good roundup of world opinion here, and in particular, a summary article titled "Europe Wonders 'Could It Happen Here?'").

As an American living in Europe, I always thought that the common cultural heritage of the European countries outweighed any differences between their more recent efforts towards the oft-stated goal of 'integration'. Despite their efforts, all of those countries closely identify citizenship with national identity. Until they figure out a model that allows assimilation -- independent of, at the very least, ethnic identity -- it is hard not to imagine this kind of anger and frustration.

French President Jacque Chirac, in his first speech since the outbreak of riots, spoke to this as an "identity crisis" at the heart of French society (here) (though one can't imagine him navigating such a contentious issue very well. I doubt that the man who cited English food as a reason not to have the Olympics in London is not going to be able to come up with anything deep). One can't help but think that this is the third consecutive blow to French identity and confidence this year, following the failure to win the 2012 Olympics, and the 'no' vote on the European Union.

There's good English-language coverage of the French riots at the BBC and the Guardian. The Christian Science Monitor examines the roots of the riots here. These urban riots, of course, also remind me of the American failures to integrate African-American migrants from the South into cities like Detroit, Los Angeles and Newark (which I've written about before, here).

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