Hadj-Moussa 277barbeRafik: “Me, I would burn down the mosque. I tell you if they ]... ”
took away the dish I would go to the mosque and burn it down!”
Difficult borders
A war of signs exists and the contours of its profile are not clearly iden-
tified (we will come back to this). However, there are very discernible
attempts on both sides to mark space. As a physical object, the satellite
dish also occupies a certain space and its quite visible presence plays a role
in collective and individual affirmation. Indeed, the struggle over satellite
dishes is at once concrete and symbolic; this struggle sometimes, as we
have seen, places the mosque and the satellite dish in very violent opposi-
tion. This confrontation is paradoxical and is played out over a significant
range of multiple dimensions.
e family and the neighborhood represent the theater where affilia-Th
tions and disaffiliations are produced and at times this entails the rejection
of “strangers” and “nonconformists.” The forms of affiliation offered by
the neighborhood or the h.ūmma constitute the site par excellence for the
acting out of masculinity, in particular for the unemployed, who develop
a sense of owning the neighborhood—not only its roadways but also its
persons, notably young women. At the same time, the h.ūmma is an urban
space that absorbs the rural aspects of its inhabitants. It reshapes and rein-
vents itself in newer and larger ensembles that include populations with
different origins and different familial allegiances. Already during the
1960s, Bourdieu and Sayad spoke of uprooting in reference to the Algerian
family.^28 Now, the tragic breakdown of the Algerian family has trans-
formed and weakened its character and its boundaries. A similar phe-
nomenon is applicable in the case of the h.ūmma. It is no longer the simple
reconstitution of village space or of the extended family. The h.ūmma also
mobilizes heterogeneous practices notable for their mercantile and indi-
vidualistic aspects. The spirit of solidarity that apparently existed once
upon a time in the h.ūmma and knitted together its members is now deni-
grated by the implacable rule of cash transactions: one no longer helps
those who are less wealthy to get connected, and signal pirating is discour-
aged. Satellite television has also spawned a host of new practices. It has