The rioters really are French, part deux

Following up on this post from earlier in the week about the rioters acting within the political traditions of France, we have Mark Landler’s, “A Very French Message From the Disaffected” in today’s New York Times:

More than 7,000 vehicles have been set ablaze since the civil unrest began in the suburbs of Paris on Oct. 27. The daily damage report posted by the French police is a car owner’s nightmare: 502 burned on Friday night, 463 the previous night, 482 the night before that, and so on. No other country in Europe immolates cars with the gusto and single-minded efficiency of France. Even during tranquil periods, an average of 80 vehicles per day are set alight somewhere in the country. “Burning cars is rather typically French,” said Michel Wieviorka, a French sociologist who has studied the phenomenon. “The last two weeks have been unusual, but it is more common than people realize.”