"Living Together" Or "Making Society" - The Crisis Of The French Model Of Integration Into Fragile Territories["Vivre Ensemble" Ou "Faire Société" - La Crise Du Modèle Français D’Intégration Dans Les Territoires Fragiles]

In recent decades, the symptoms of a serious malaise in French society have multiplied: recurring urban riots; worsening economic, social, cultural, health and territorial inequalities, etc.; decline in confidence in the institutions, manifested in particular by the constant increase in the abstention rate during the elections and by a steady increase in the number of protest votes. Beyond the particular causes of these phenomena, their accumulation and convergence reflect a questioning to the values of the Republic and to the public's adherence to the political system based on them. This development reveals a deep crisis in the model of integration from which France's territorial and societal unity has been formed, over the centuries. To shed light on the mechanisms at work in these upheavals, this communication recalls how, around the gradual emergence of the idea of nation, ideological, legal and political devices were put in place, the original articulation of which was the French model of integration. It then analyses, beyond a purely socio-economic approach, the fundamental characteristics of the crisis of this model, including its territorial and imaginary components. Finally, it shows that, in order to rethink the French conception of integration by retaining characteristics that have a strong identity dimension, it is necessary to overcome the shortcomings of "living together" and to respond to the imperative of "making society". The communication is based on the study of concrete situations in four major types of fragile territories: migration ghettos, crisis-stricken city centers, impoverished rural areas and declining industrial regions.