(...) During the candidates’ final televised debate in Paris on Wednesday, one had the impression of viewing an old VCR cassette from the archives. This was to be the session devoted to social problems. The last 20 minutes circled around a study sponsored by the Institut Montaigne and carried out by the sociologist Gilles Képel. It showed the growing role of Islam in shaping the identity of young people in Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil, two banlieues (or suburbs) at the centre of a week of rioting in 2005. Mosque attendance was far higher than previously reported, the study showed, and the demand for halal was up. (...)