URPEACE - Grenoble

This study aims to contribute to knowledge about the peace-building agency of civilian actors in marginalized social-housing neighborhoods, who deal with the consequences of terrorist violence in European cities. The bulk of peace and conflict studies literature has provided insight in the dynamics of violence rather than peace. The innovative character of this study therefore is that it interprets existing and new data on dealing with violence with a novel approach, that of geographies of peace. This innovative approach breaks with the tendency of peace and conflict studies to focus on the Global South, state processes and armed conflict and makes it very relevant for studying initiatives in European cities that deal with the aftermaths of paroxysmal violence. The study draws on data collected in three different cities: Grenoble, Basel/Freiburg and Brcko. This dataset concerns the data that has been collected in Grenoble.

URPEACE worked in Grenoble with existing data collected by the researcher during long-term research (2015-2018) carried Claske Dijkema for her PhD. (https://theses.hal.science/tel-03420654/file/DIJKEMA_2021_archivage.pdf)

Data was originally collected with the aim to rethink the stigmatization of marginalized social housing neighborhoods (MSHN) in France and to make alternative realities visible that have so far remained under the radar of social science research. Its focus is in particular on neighborhood youth and Muslim women. A lot of data has been collected throughout my long-term ethnographic and participatory field research that have not been previously explored. In the context of paroxysmal violence (urban, terrorist and youth violence) in the neighborhood, the issue of peace and how it can be built were recurrent themes that have not been the focus of my PhD manuscript.

The method of data collection has been developed in order to deal with the methodological challenge that power asymmetry between the researcher and research particpants constitutes for qualitative research. The latter heavily relies on speech. However, using speech as a method with people whose voices are silenced, poses a methodological challenge. In a context of subalternization, territorial stigmatization and urban violence in marginalized social-housing neighborhoods, the developed method contributes to creating spaces of speech. A space of speech refers to a space in which speech becomes possible because it is configured in such a way that power dynamics are mitigated.

In the context of this study there are 4 different spaces of speech

Meetings

Street debates (see document "More info street debates")

Discussion circles/workshops/focus groups

Public debates

In this space a public comes together and exchanges with each other about a specific theme. It belongs to the public sphere and is publicly accessible; it may form in public space but is more often a space that is closed by walls and a door as this closure offers a form of protection and separates the space from the street.

This method can be considered as a specific form of participatory action-research with different local initiatives in two marginalized social-housing neighborhoods in Grenoble (Villeneuve and Echirolles) in a context of post-violence. These local initiatives are (among others):

Université Populaire de Villeneuve

Agir pour la Paix

Nous Citoyennes

Marche Blanche

Creating spaces of speech and public debates as a research method has allowed the co-production of the following primary data: field notes, and in the case of the plenary debates of the Université populaire video and audio recordings in addition to field notes. Table 1 lists which spaces of speech produced which kind of data.

Table 1 The data produced in different spaces of speech

Space of Speech

Number

Data

Meetings

UP meetings 2017

6

Audio recording, transcripts

Other working groups

30

Written field notes, notebook

Workshops

Discussion circles UP

2

Video and audio recording, transcripts

Workshops APLP

6

Field notes

Workshops Marchons

4

Field notes, partly audio-recorded but not transcribed

Workshops UP

1

Field Notes

Street debates

UP

5

Field notes, summary document

APLP

2

Field notes

Villeneuve Debout

1

Field notes

Plenary debates

UP

16

Audio and video recordings, pictures, Field notes, proceedings

Other

25

Field notes

Types and formats of data

The existing dataset (retrospective) exists of:

Ethnographic observations and informal discussions (field notes)

Transcripts of public debates (10)

Zines published after public debates (7)

Flyers of public debates

Documents by local actors

Transcripts of 20 interviews (audio-recorded)

Videos produced by the Université Populaire (6)

Field notes

The collected field notes fit into two categories: 1) notes written in a notebook during working group meetings and debates, which were a combination of logistical organization, the stories I heard and my own observations; 2) notes written on the computer once I returned to my desk (at home or at the University) after meetings or debates, or other spaces of speech. They are both descriptive and reflective. Field notes are separated in different documents: 10 written workbooks and word documents organized per year (2013-2019).

The field notes have been written for personal use and are closed for access.

List of plenary debates

The table below provides a list of all the plenary debates I have been involved as co-organizer. The list provides information about the title of the debate, where they took place (PLACE) and how many people participated (PART.). Five categories indicate the number of people present at each debate:

1) 5-25;

2) 25 – 50;

3) 50 -75;

4) 75 – 100;

5) + 100.

The last column indicates the documents that are accessible in this repository (x= available; - = accessible upon request).

Table 2 Overview of plenary debates

2013

PLENARY DEBATES

PLACE

PART.

16-févr

Villeneuve Debout - Repas Citoyen "Violence dans le quartier, parlons-en!"

La Cordée, Villeneuve

3

x

14-nov

Villeneuve - Décryptage public de Envoyé spécial

Salle 150, Villeneuve

3

x

2014

PLENARY DEBATES

PLACE

17-juin

Marche Blanche and Villeneuve Debout- “Comprende et agir sur la violence, soirée hommage à Kevin et Sofiane”

Musée de Grenoble

5

x

02-oct

Marche Blanche – International Day of Nonviolence

Lycée Marie Curie Echirolles

5

x

2015

PLENARY DEBATES

PLACE

20-mars

UP Cycle I “Pour comprendre les discriminations, l'islamophobie etc” – UP Cahier 1

Salle Polyvalente des Baladins

4

x

11-mai

MJC Roseaux - Latifa Ibn Ziaten - Jessy Cormont

Maison de Quartier Aragon

3

-

31-mai

Fringale/FUIQP – “Quartiers populaires et luttes contre l’islamophobie, la lutte des femmes – Rencontre avec Ismahane Chouder”

MJC l’Abbaye

3

x

02-juil

MJC Roseaux - Réunion public après la mort de Luc Pouvin

Maison de Quartier Aragon

4

-

21-sept

UP Cycle I “Pour comprendre - histoire d'immigré”

Salle Polyvalente des Baladins

2

-

02-oct

2 October collective – Debate at high school with activists involved in MSHN struggles using non-violent methods

College Henri Vallon

5

x

02-oct

2 October collective – Debate with APLP “Comment faire société au-delà de nos différences?”

Alpexpo

2

x

02-oct

2 October collective – Debate “Quelle mobilisation collective pouvons-nous mettre en place pour répondre de façon nonviolente aux violences?”

Alpexpo

3

-

02-oct

2 October collective – International Day of Nonviolence
- Magazine: Marchons 2015

Summum

5+

x

24-oct

MJC les Roseaux – “Journée tous ensemble contre les violences”

L’Heure Bleue, Saint Martin d’Hères

5

x

28-oct

Fringale/FUIQP Projection débat "Qui a tué Ali Ziri"

Cinéma le Club, centre-ville

5

-

20-nov

UP Cycle I “Pour Comprendre les ZEP, ZUP, ZUS, ZSP - Said Bouamama” – UP Cahier 2

Salle Polyvalente des Baladins

5

x

19 dec

Fringale/FUIQP - Restitution Marche pour la Dignité à Paris

MJC Desnos

1

x

2016

PLENARY DEBATES

PLACE

11-mars

UP Cycle I “Pour comprendre la liberté d'expression”

– UP Cahier 2
– Texte: UP liberté expression extraits paroles à citer
– Videos

Université populaire de la Villeneuve, Préfuguration (3’45)
Université populaire de la Villeneuve (1) version courte (7’32)

Université populaire de la Villeneuve (2) version longue (43’07)

Salle Polyvalente des Baladins

3

x

03-juin

UP Cycle I “Pour comprendre la géopolitique”

Salle Polyvalente des Baladins

3

x

10-juin

UP Cycle I “Pour comprendre le djihadisme”

Salle Polyvalente des Baladins

3

x

25-sept

APLP – Debate with the Danish resource center in Norrbro theme “Face aux représentations politiques, peut-on être religieux et citoyen en Europe aujourd’hui?”

MJC Desnos

2

-

2 - Oct

2 October collective – International Day of Nonviolence

- Magazine: Marchons 2015

Alpexpo
5+
x

2017

PLENARY DEBATES

PLACE

01-avr

FUIQP (co-organizer) - Table-ronde regards croisés "Violences policières, islamophobie, racisme d'Etat et sionisme dans la politique française: Khlass la hogra"

Salle 150, Villeneuve

3

-

13-avr

MJC des Roseaux - Debate with youth from several neighborhoods in Grenoble (métropole) and Molenbeek organized by Jeunes Debout. Participation youth from Villeneuve organized by service jeunesse

Maison de Quartier Aragon

4

-

01-juil

Ad hoc public debate incendie collège -dialogue des savoirs avec parents d'élèves

Parc de la Villeneuve

2

-

13-oct

UP Cycle II - "Mémoires de la colonisation, entre récits et tabous"
– UP Cahier 3

MDH des Baladins

3

-

20-oct

UP Cycle II - soirée film

MDH des Baladins

2

-

10-nov

UP Cycle II - "La France et ses colonies"

– UP Cahier 4

Salle Polyvalente des Baladins

2

x

20-nov

UP Cycle II - "La guerre d'Algérie, connaître les faits" 1

La Cordée

2

-

22-nov

UP Cycle II - "La guerre d'Algérie, connaître les faits" 2

La Cordée

2

-

24-nov

UP Cycle II - "La guerre d'Algérie, connaître les faits" 3

La Cordée

2

-

08-déc

UP Cycle II - "Quelles continuités de l'imaginaire colonial après 1960?"

– UP Cahier 5

Salle Polyvalente des Baladins

3

x

2018

PLENARY DEBATES

PLACE

21-janv

UP Cycle II - "Repenser le monde avec Césaire, Fanon et Glissant"

– UP Cahier 6

La Cordée

4

x

24-janv

Court trial Chaambi Grenoble - soirée débat “Quelles libertés pour nos luttes?”

Solexine,
centre-ville

2

-

26-avr

UP Cycle II -"Mixité sociale, injonction à vivre ensemble, quelle gestion des quartiers?"

– UP Cahier 7

La Cordée

2

x

25-mai

UP Cycle II - "Discrimination, quels mots utiliser?"
- Flyer/Affiche

La Cordée

3

X

18 June

UP Cycle II - Screening and reading "Towards the traces of a colonial past in the present".

Texte: Petite surprise théâtrale

Videos (mp4)
- UPP 1 colonial le projet
- UPP 2 colonial que reste-t-il
- UPP 3 colonial un avenir décolonial

Espace 600, Patio

X

Documents by local actors

In addition to the data that I have produced and co-produced during collaborations, I also rely on existing data, by which I understand the documents produced by neighborhood actors, as listed below.

[Book] Raynaud, Pierre, Vivre, c’est quoi? Parcours et réflexions d’un homme du temps présent. Paris: l’Harmattan, 2016.

[Book] Monkam-Noubissi, Aurélie. 2014. Le ventre arraché. Montrouge: Bayard.

[Document] Décryptage Villeneuve le rêve brisé, 2013, Association des Habitants de la Crique Sud

[Document] “Livre blanc”, Collectif inter-associations de la Villeneuve, 2011

[Document]

Meeting minutes collective (2014 – 2016)

Workshop minutes APLP (2015-2015)

Open letter Claude Jacquier (2012)

Open letter Khaled Satour (2010)

Press statement Dossier de presse dépôt de plainte contre France 2 suite au reportage d’Envoyé spécial, 2013

Proceedings "Comprendre et agir sur la violence”, Les Actes de la soirée d’hommage à Kevin et Sofiane, Museum of Grenoble, 17 June 2014

Report “Rapport voyage d’étude atelier ‘agir pour la paix’, le silence et l’indifférence sont complices: agissons contre toutes les formes de violences,” 2015

[Document] “Ensemble imaginons 100 discours admirables”, Villeneuve Debout, 2012

Working documents APLP

These documents are available in print format upon request

Dialogued interviews

I have used the method of “dialogued interviews” (entretiens dialogués), which are interviews that follow a rough outline but that leave ample space for dialogue between interviewer and interviewed. This method is developed in education populaire (for a specific way of using dialogued interviews see also Scharmer et al. 2012). Dialogued interviews correspond to the principle of reciprocal relationships in which both researcher and research participant share their analyses and the latter are not reduced to speaking about their experience. They are an additional opportunity for the co-production of knowledge.

I conducted three cycles of interviews.

The first took place during the preliminary phase of my research when I started my thematic explorations (2013-2014).

The second cycle of interviews (2016-2017) responded to the objective of acquiring information about the link between neighborhood stigmatization and violence. A topic that was transversal across my collaborations with all groups, but about which I lacked specific data.

A third cycle of interviews (2017) corresponded to the goal of including a feedback loop on islamophobia in the post-Charlie period in France.

Interviews took place at the Maison des habitants, as a space of mediation between the neighborhood and public institutions, and in the cafeteria of the Geography institute in Grenoble, or in participant's homes.

Table 3 Interviews with research participants

The table below provides an overview of the ID of the interviewee, the organisation or collective in which the person was involved, where and when the interview took place.

ID

Organisation

Location interview

Date

1

Villeneuve Debout

MDH Baladins

30/05/2016

2

Agir pour la Paix

Home of interviewee

01/05/2018

3

Agir pour la Paix

Institut d’Urbanisme et de Géographie Alpine

09/09/2017

4

Villeneuve Debout

Telephone

19/04/2013

5

Union de Quartier

Union de Quartier

04/07/2016

6

Université Populaire

Home of interviewee

21/02/2017

7

Other

Parc

17/03/2017

8

Villeneuve Debout

Home of interviewee

08/07/2017

9

Université Populaire

MDH Baladins

19/05/2017

10

Marche Blanche

Home of interviewee

06/06/2016

11

Agir pour la Paix

Modus Operandi

01/07/2014

12

Union de Quartier

Institut d’Urbanisme et de Géographie Alpine

15/11/2013

13

Agir pour la Paix

Modus Operandi

17/11/2015

14

Union de Quartier

Union de Quartier

20/10/2013

15

Madame Ruetabaga

Home of interviewee

09/07/2017

16

Université Populaire

MDH Baladins

01/12/2017

17

Agir pour la Paix

Institut d’Urbanisme et de Géographie Alpine

07/07/2017

18

Villeneuve Debout

MDH Baladins

15/03/13

19

Marche Blanche

Home of interviewee

05/06/2017

20

Université Populaire

Institut d’Urbanisme et de Géographie Alpine

21/02/2017

21

Association 30-40

Home of interviewee

19/02/2013

22

Agir pour la Paix

Modus Operandi

01/07/2014

23

Agir pour la Paix

Modus Operandi

01/07/2014 (group)

01/05/2018

24

Université populaire

MDH Baladins

07/05/2016

25

Université Populaire

MDH Baladins

29/05/2017

26

Université Populaire

MDH Baladins

29/05/2017

Table 4 Interviews with professionals working in Villeneuve

ID

Function

Organization

Date

27

Directeur à la Direction des tranquillités

City of Grenoble

25/05/2017

28

Youth worker

CODASE

29/09/2017

29

Youth worker

CODASE

29/09/2017

30

Délégué de cohesion police population

Police nationale

12/06/2017

31

Head of the Night mediation unit

Régie de quartier

20/09/2013

32

Night mediator

Régie de quartier

20/09/2013

The interviews carried out in the existing dataset cannot be made public because the researcher has not asked for permission to make the results public at the time of carrying out the interviews.

In addition to the interviews carried out by me (only), I also draw on two radio interviews. The first was carried out by me and a befriended journalist and the second is carried out by the local radio station News FM who dedicated a program to the UP debate on Charlie Hebdo and the freedom of expression.

Radio interviews

Radio interview with Agir pour la Paix, « Comprendre et agir sur la violence », 20/11/2014, Radio grésivaudan
http://www.radio-gresivaudan.org/Comprendre-et-agir-sur-la-violence.html, accessed 19/11/2019

News FM with 2 participants of the Université Populaire, 1 person of UP working group and 1 invited speaker, 25/04/2016