French identity: a threatened concept?
France, a country where people are made to believe in the consoling myth of equality to all citizens ‘without distinction of origin, color of skin or religion’.
It is clear that terrorist attacks in France have tailored the opinions of many people both social and political, along with reviving the notion of ‘French identity’. The phrase ‘French identity’ nowadays usually emerges following a terrorist attack in French society. It is also often discussed when explicitly referring to the banlieues (suburbs) and their residents, most of whom are people from the Maghreb region (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and whose appearance, which may cause provocation amidst this social turbulence, typifies the perceivable element of their identity. When the concept of ‘French identity’ is discussed, the que...