Facing Terrorism in France : Lessons from the 2015 Paris Attacks

From 2015, Europe was hit by a new wave of terrorist attacks, coordinated or supported by an international Islamist organization (ISIS) but sometimes also perpetrated by citizens of the targeted country: the attacks on Paris, Brussels, London, Manchester, Nice and Barcelona probably attracted most attention but the most dramatic were perpetrated in Paris, in January and November 2015. These events shook the foundations of French society not only because of their magnitude but also because of the symbolic nature of the targets. Whilst in January, the targets were carefully selected as emblematic of France (the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, the police forces, the Jewish community) and of European liberal values (journalists and cartoonists), in November the victims ordinary people enjoying music, sports and restaurants. The book offers a unique interdisciplinary investigation into the complex responses of French society: from the individual level (survivors of the Bataclan attack, emotional citizens paying homage to the victims, French Muslims) to the meso level of civic association and web communities, and the macro level of the State and public opinion.