L’attentato a Charlie Hebdo: una riflessione sociologica

Abstract

When we witness events as those occurred in Paris on 7-9 January 2015 and in Copenhagen on 14-15 February 2015 (mentioning two among the most striking cases in a list which could include many other similar events spread all over Europe and over the years), in which young second- or third-generation immigrants often turn out to be involved, we have the wish and need to attempt to identify, at least preliminarily, hypothetical, possible explanatory factors, whether facilitating or simply intervening. As this essay aims at illustrating, those factors have to do with both the cohesion of the European societies and what is happening on the international scene. The article will only deal with the first aspect, which sometimes, however, is connected with the Isis’s enticement. In the light of the identified interrelated elements, the essay ends with a short reflection on the freedom of expression, which has been more than symbolically challenged by the above mentioned attacks.