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Riots and public policy: a comparative socio-territorial analysis of the 2023 riots
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POSTER OF THE PROJECT - JULY 2024
How can we interpret the geography and scale of the 2023 riots? What do they reveal about young people's relationship with cities, territories, and neighborhoods? Are the affected areas targeted by public policy measures, and can their targeting be assessed in the light of these protests? In the initial exploratory analyses, the concentration of poverty in one or more of the city's neighborhoods emerged as the most decisive explanatory factor in the likelihood of the commune experiencing a riot in the summer of 2023. The proportion of immigrants in the commune's population also appears to play a decisive role. The presence in the commune of one of the most disadvantaged schools in France is almost systematic in the 572 communes affected and seems to play an amplifying role when combined with residential segregation (83% of them have a school in the 20% most disadvantaged in France). Social, ethno-racial and educational segregation, linked to issues of racial discrimination and police violence, therefore appear central to understanding the triggering and intensity of riots in the communes.
The territorial dynamics of small and medium-sized towns that have experienced both Gilets Jaunes rallies and riots (52 medium-sized towns, 81 small towns), as well as new public policies specifically targeting this tier of towns, should be the subject of in-depth research. Indeed, since the "yellow vest crisis", several schemes have sought to target non-metropolitan territories, providing financial aid and action programs for each size of town. The aim is to take stock of these new schemes, to understand their classification criteria, as well as the very broad issues they aim to address, such as the revitalization of vacant shops and housing in town centers, or tourism and real estate pressure.