Neighborhood Watch: The Policing of Château Rouge, Paris

The neighborhood of Château Rouge in Paris’s 18^th arrondissement is home to a large foreign-born population of residents and has been called ‘Africa in Paris’. However, the portrayal of this neighborhood as ‘exotic’ only accentuates the already marginalized quarter, where unemployment reaches 20% and city-led development efforts have been pushing long-time residents out of the area. In 2012, Château Rouge was listed as one of 15 ‘priority security zones’ by the French government, leading to increased police action on unlicensed vendors, theft and drug trafficking. While the national government polices these products of social and economic marginalization, local residents have taken to online blogs and forums to complain and raise awareness about what they deem to be Château Rouge’s ‘real’ problems: the failure of the police, the municipal destruction of old buildings and classic architecture for redevelopment, and ‘mono-commercial activity’, or a lack of commercial diversity in the neighborhood. However, while these online discussions often commence with a statement of support for the neighborhood’s cultural, religious or national diversity, it is evident that some of the products of Château Rouge’s multiculturalism—halal butchers, African hair salons, “ethnic” grocery stores and a large concentration of African migrants—are a source of discontent for many residents. Based upon ongoing research in Château Rouge, this paper presents evidence of social and political policing efforts and government-led gentrification that attempts to control a “lawless” and “dangerous” neighborhood while concealing growing discomfort with this “ethnic enclave.”