A deviant construction: The French media and the ‘Banlieues’

Abstract

Abstract The French ‘banlieues’ (literally, ‘suburbs'), a term that previously served simply to denote peripheral parts of urban areas, have recently become a byword for ethnic alterity, deviance and disadvantage. The mass media have played a central role in this reconstruction. This article analyses the core elements of this process, considers how and why it emerged at this time, and explores similarities with media coverage of British inner cities. Four sets of contributory factors are considered: long‐term demographic and socio‐economic developments, the framing of public policy, the actions of minority ethnic youths and journalistic values and practices. Since the mid‐1970s, a growing share of the French public housing stock has been allocated to minority ethnic groups of Third World origin. Immigrant families have generally been allocated to less popular, more run‐down properties, especially in the outer reaches of urban areas. Through the prevalence of descriptive conglomerations in lieu of explanat...