About the Immigration and the Changing Face of Paris Walk in Paris
In the summer of 2005 France erupted in flames. For weeks, disgruntled youth—many from the country's North African immigrant communities—set thousands of cars ablaze and vandalized shops and schools, turning the streets of Paris' infamous banlieue (suburbs) into war zones. As a result, the French have been forced to grapple with the changing face of their country, now home to Europe's largest Muslim population. During this 3.5 hour seminar, led by a social historian, will explore immigrant Paris, analyze its history and get to the root of some of the recent trouble which has led to a vivid debate on what it really means to be French.
We will begin our walk with an overview of French colonization and its subsequent waves of immigration while we stroll around the lively streets and open-air market at Barbes. Located in northern Paris, this traditional working class district filled with North African immigrants especially during the thirty years following WWII when France desperately nee
read more
In the summer of 2005 France erupted in flames. For weeks, disgruntled youth—many from the country's North African immigrant communities—set thousands of cars ablaze and vandalized shops and schools, turning the streets of Paris' infamous banlieue (suburbs) into war zones. As a result, the French have been forced to grapple with the changing face of their country, now home to Europe's largest Muslim population. During this 3.5 hour seminar, led by a social historian, will explore immigrant Paris, analyze its history and get to the root of some of the recent trouble which has led to a vivid debate on what it really means to be French.
We will begin our walk with an overview of French colonization and its subsequent waves of immigration while we stroll around the lively streets and open-air market at Barbes. Located in northern Paris, this traditional working class district filled with North African immigrants especially during the thirty years following WWII when France desperately needed manpower to rebuild the country. However, this era was soon fraught with the demise of the French colonies and the violent Franco-Algerian war. We will discuss this period walking along the rue de la Goutte d'Or, where, during the war, many Algerians lived in hotels and the harkis (Muslim Algerian auxiliaries in the French army) had one of the headquarters.
As we work our way further east we will reach the Gare du Nord train station, an important gateway where we can observe the vast network of tracks that transport hundreds of thousands of people in from the suburbs every day. Here we will address the situation since the sixties with the predominant marginalization of immigrants to vast concrete housing projects outside of the capital. Far removed from the elegant shops and tree-lined boulevards of Paris, it was here that growing discontent from poor living conditions and high unemployment led to much of the recent riots.
We will then take the metro ourselves, a few stations to Belleville, another former working class suburb incorporated into Paris through 19th century Haussmanization. Belleville is now probably the most cosmopolitan area of the city and we will discuss the changes to Paris's immigrant populous, here with North African, Asians and even Jewish people living and working side by side.
Leaving Belleville will we get back on the metro, this time heading south to our final stop, the Great Mosque of Paris. The largest Mosque in France, it was inaugurated in 1926 in recognition of the Muslims who fought for France in WWI. Over a mint tea in the garden, we will discuss some current issues surrounding immigration such as the veil, France's concept of identity or even the difference between American and French understanding of identity.
