Faith in the cite : how a religious habitus shapes youth agency in a neighbourhood of the French banlieue

Much of the literature on youth from French housing estates (cites) in suburban neighbourhoods (banlieues) tends to focus on problems in such places, and in particular, dramatic phenomena such as the 2005 riots. In some instances, scholarly articles do problematise prevalent representations of the banlieue and the young people who reside there, but even in these cases, examples of youth agency and solidarity in the banlieue tend to be referenced in passing, if at all. Furthermore, despite the prevalence of religion within immigrant communities living in an extremely secular France, the literature on youth from the cites is largely silent on the role of religion in the everyday lives of these young people and the meaning this provides them. Many articles that do take religion into account tend to focus on the evolving practice of Islam in the cite, and as such do not address how the practice of religion more broadly is shifting in contemporary France, nor provide insight into examples of interfaith solidarity emerging in the cites. Building on Henri Lefebvre's theory on the production of space, and extending Pierre Bourdieu's theory of habitus to religion, this study uses qualitative research methods to provide insight into these issues from the perspectives of young people living in the cites of a French suburban neighbourhood, who consider themselves religious and who are active in the community life of their cites. Participants' views show that they possess a shared language and sense of place that contributes to agency in place, that is, telling alternative narratives of their cites and taking action to realise these visions of the neighbourhood. The study examines the factors that young people see as shaping this agency, particularly the role of a religious habitus and how participants conceive of connections between their beliefs and the actions they take in the cite. It also looks at how visions and practices of religion are evolving among participants in the context of the ethnically and religiously heterogeneous cites they reside in and what this means for collective forms of agency. In focusing on the perspectives of youth, the study assumes that there are valuable things to learn from young people and their communities, and aims to contribute to alternative representations of these neighbourhoods. It also seeks to contribute to a dialogue on the connections between religion and youth agency in France.