The uprisings in the French banlieues during the Winter of 2005 had no political effects. At least, this is the conclusion of numerous analyses published soon after the events that did not recognise any political Organisation resulting from the spontaneous protests, primarily because no explicit demands were articulated. The authors refuse such an interpretation and address the challenge that these uprisings pose to our understanding of the political. Addressing the historical as well as everyday dimensions of the conflict, they analyse the transformations in urban policies in the banlieues, showing the importance of migration struggles to this process. How do we understand processes of political subjectivation at times in which social groups are excluded from status, rights, social, political and cultural relations and activities due to citizenship, poverty and urban segregation?