Houria Bouteldja’s latest book, Rednecks and Barbarians, opens with two epigraphs, one from the Book of Revelation and the other a saying of the prophet Muhammad. This encapsulates Bouteldja’s aspiration to weave together sources that appeal to Christians and to Muslims, finding in each the urgent call of divine justice in desperate times. Ultimately, she names her constructive proposal “revolutionary love.” In a world where systems of domination are interlocking, where capitalism and racism collude, reason makes it seem as if there is no escape. Bouteldja suggests that it is only through faith, or something like it, that we are motivated to work toward justice.

Can France’s white working-class and immigrants turn from racial politics to solidarity?