It has been over ten years since the deaths of Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré. In May of 2015, the officers who had observed the young boys enter the power substation were officially acquitted of a charge of failing to assist, however the legacy of the boys’ deaths – which many argue triggered the 2005 uprisings – continues to influence political conversations about difference, race, and equality in France today. Much has happened in the ten years that have elapsed: the discourse regarding Muslims in France is evolving, some argue hardening; multiple terrorist attacks have rocked the nation, including the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the November 2015 attacks which have led to heightened Islamophobia; the far Right is making a case for its legitimacy as a serious political party; and the State of Emergency continues. In light of the theme bringing us together at the Council for European Studies this year, this panel asks: is France undergoing a substantive transformation? Or are we witnessing perennial questions of the Fifth Republic merely restated in the register of today’s salient political topics?