Facts: The riots in France
Two motorcycle police officers stop a car in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on June 27 and the 17-year-old driver Nahel is shot at close range in the chest and dies.
The 38-year-old police officer who is seen holding the gun in a video of the incident was later arrested on suspicion of the corresponding murder.
The fatal shooting revives the debate about police violence and discrimination against residents of low-income areas of France.
For several days, violent riots and demonstrations have been going on all over France. Cars and buildings are set on fire, shops are vandalized, police are fired upon with fireworks and several thousand people are arrested.
At most, 45,000 police officers worked per night during the riots.
French society has long been characterized by a distrust of the state and a tradition of rioting. Thus, France differs from Sweden, which on a national level has long had a high level of trust. But in vulnerable areas it fails, which increases the risk of violence, according to Lars Trägårdh, professor of history and active at Uppsala University.
— We must take it seriously and we have to adapt. I don’t think we’ll have a French situation in two years, the lack of trust doesn’t translate into riots overnight but it’s a breeding ground.
“Astronomical Differences”
The differences between, for example, the prosperous Södermalm in Stockholm and the economically vulnerable area of Rågsved in southern Stockholm, Trägårdh describes as “astronomical” when it comes to trust between fellow human beings. Despite the cycling distance between the areas, only 30 percent of Rågsved residents state that they trust their fellow human beings, compared to 75 percent in Södermalm, according to figures from 2020.
Lars Trägårdh questions whether we are “undermining trust” in society in vulnerable areas, and sees last spring’s Easter riots as a sign that trust has been eroded.
— We have the tensions. I am thinking, for example, of the Koran burnings and of the Nyans party. We see various signs of a feeling that one is not respected, addressed and included in matters concerning one’s local reality.
Only Systembolaget left
Among other things, he believes that the authorities’ reduced physical presence in vulnerable areas has negatively affected trust. He mentions the police, social services and the Social Insurance Agency as examples and jokes that only Systembolaget is left.
— It is not only the police who physically disappear from the local environments. There are many other institutions that are probably just as important in creating the feeling that “we live in a society”.
At the same time, Lars Trägårdh describes it as that Sweden still has trust capital left and that there is a long way to go before trust is driven to the bottom, as in some French suburbs. Among other things, new arrivals have a high level of trust in Swedish institutions, a trust that Trägårdh believes must be managed through a more effective integration policy.
— The longer we are incompetent, the more difficult it will be. If we continue in this direction, we will be in a situation in ten years when the answer is: “Yes, it went to hell”.