Explosive Climate

Henrik Uterwedde is deputy director of the Franco-German Institute in Ludwigsburg in southwestern German. He teaches political science at Stuttgart University.

DW-WORLD.DE: Friday is the one-year anniversary of the riots in the French suburbs. Cars were again set on fire in the last couple of days. The police secret service warns about an escalation.

Henrik Uterwedde: There were repeated clashes, including incidents, where police officers, who wanted to check people, were ambushed by teenaged gangs. Moral barriers against readiness for violence have been torn down. And it's hard to erect them again.

Are these assaults the first signs of a new wave of violence?

At least you cannot rule that out. There are signs that the climate in the suburbs remains explosive. Experts, such as one of the mayors in the area, say: "We're sitting on a powder keg." That's because the roots of the crisis have not been eradicated. You cannot do away with 30 years of crisis-like developments within 12 months.

What are the causes for the teenagers' frustration?

First of all, it's a deep social crisis. About 700 hot spot quarters exist in France's metropolitan areas and almost 5 million people live there. These areas are monocultures. Forty percent of youngsters who live there don't have a high school diploma. The unemployment rate is twice as high as in the rest of France. There's a conglomeration of all social problems the country is facing. On top of that, you have an integration crisis. Teenagers from immigrant families are especially discriminated against when they're looking for work. It's not enough to criminalize teenagers and employ a law and order policy to restore peace -- as Interior Minister Sarkozy has been doing in a very populist way.

The government has announced several initiatives following the riots last year. Which political steps have been taken?

Even before 2005, useful programs existed that tried to diffuse hot spots of social conflict. Following the riots, there were four measures. People tried to improve the chances of employment for the teenagers in metropolitan areas. Steps have been taken to combat ethnic discrimination. Another, very expensive, program is that of urban planning. There's a tremendous problem with the clusters of apartment towers. A renovation project has been set up. The fourth step deal with repression. Of course the state cannot tolerate the creation of lawless areas. But all of these measures will not lead to swift successes.

Do you think these are steps in the right direction?

Yes, I think so. The most visible results are the ones resulting from the renovation of living space. All other initiatives will take longer. Employment, of course, is dependent on the economy, which is not doing that great at the moment. Failure in school is another big problem. We know that the chances to find employment rise with success in school. But a few extra teachers won't be enough to fight this problem.

What's happening to address the issue of discrimination against teenagers?

You can outlaw discrimination. But try to change the mentality of a small business owner, who has reservations about immigrants. There are some cases of positive discrimination. One of the biggest elite universities, the Sciences Po, the institute for political science in Paris, has made a kind of contract with some selected high schools in hot spot areas. It allows a certain contingent of students from these areas to study at the university.

The police union has warned that the violence is starting to take on Islamist undertones...

Judging by last year's riots, you cannot say that. Quite to the contrary, there were some representatives of Muslim communities that became important contact people for the mayors because they were the only ones left that still had some influence over the teenagers. In a powder keg, you cannot rule out such a development. But I don't see this as a danger right now.

Ercin Özlü interviewed Henrik Uterwedde (win).