Mobilizing against the eviction of a shantytown on the periphery of Paris
How do families living in a shantytown threatened with eviction mobilize to address the problem that affects them, and how do they transpose the emotions felt on the ground into a public problem ? In order to understand such a process, this article will focus on the different stages of a mobilization on the outskirts of Paris, from the first reactions to the announcement of the eviction, to the drafting of a press release, to the inhabitants’ expression of what happened in their own words within the sphere of public discussion. The description of the mobilization makes it possible to follow the constitution of a micro-public, all while reporting on behind-the-scenes negotiations and distinguishing several “circles of concern”. In the central circle, the shantytown dwellers experience the event firsthand, anticipating its direct consequences on their lives. In the next-widest circle, activists supporting the residents evaluate the emotional, moral and political damages of the eviction. They are able to do this because they have devoted time and energy to helping the families on a daily basis and have developed social relationships with them. On the periphery of this circle, there are a number of people who share a sense of injustice with regards to the fate of Roma families, and who express this through their participation in the mobilization.