Reinventing France: State and Society in the 21st Century (French Politics, Society and Culture)

Undermined from above by economic globalization and European integration, and from below by the rise of identity politics, the French state has attempted to redefine its relationship to its citizens. Reinventing France examines the ways in which state action has endeavoured to promote social integration in an increasingly fragmented nation and has challenged traditional concepts of an indivisible Republic and universal citizenship rights in order to achieve the core republican ideals of freedom, equality and solidarity. The contributors examine questions such as the changing role of the state, political participation, immigration, education, working-time policy and the French state's portrayal of itself through the commemoration and often painful re-examination of the events of the Second World War. What emerges is a picture of a state that is redefining its relationship to its citizens while not entirely abandoning its universal conception of republican citizenship. Cultural and historical accounts of the public intellectual and French feminism have been remiss in their failure to recognise an important group of major women intellectuals in France. In particular, studies of French feminism and public intellectuals have overlooked the contribution of notable figures such as Françoise Parturier, Gisèle Halimi and Elisabeth Badinter amongst many others which has necessarily had a detrimental effect on discourses about the gendered phenomenon of the public intellectual in France. By studying the work of these neglected intellectuals alongside those of more recognised women thinkers such as Assia Djebar, Marguerite Duras and Annie Ernaux, this book aims to provide a much broader picture of the activities, both political and literary, of female key public in the aftermath of May 1968. By exploring the relationship between their interventions in the public sphere and their creative work it throws new light on the reasons for their omission in standard theoretical and empirical work on the French intellectual. In so doing, this book offers a cultural and theoretical re-evaluation of the gendered phenomenon of the public intellectual in France, as such it is important reading to students and scholars of French Feminism and French public intellectuals more generally Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Notes on Contributors......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Introduction......Page 12 Part One: State and Nation......Page 30 1 French Politics in the Twenty-First Century: Invention or Muddling Through?......Page 32 2 Reinventing the French State......Page 46 3 The French State and the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century......Page 59 4 Redefining the Franco-German Relationship......Page 74 5 French Subnational Government and the European Union: the Relocation and Reformulation of Governance and the Restructuring of Policy Networks......Page 87 Part Two: State and Society......Page 106 6 Beyond the ‘Crisis of Representation’? A Case Study of Innovation in French Local Government......Page 108 7 Education for Citizenship: Reinventing the French Republic......Page 121 8 The French ‘Melting Pot’: Outdated – or in Need of Reinvention?......Page 138 9 Reinventing Everyday Life in France: the Reduction of Working Time......Page 154 Part Three: History and Identity......Page 166 10 Wartime Deportation from France: Can the French Still Remember as a Nation?......Page 168 11 Facing the Past: French Wartime Memories at the Millennium......Page 184 Conclusion......Page 196 Index......Page 207 "The past decade of French politics was marked by a rise of social movements that articulated new struggles and expressed changing demands. The new movements gave voice and representation to groups that had been marginalised by political institutions and excluded from mainstream society. Sarah Waters explores a 'new generation of movements' within French political life and seeks to examine their meaning and significance. The outstanding feature of these movements is that they share a strong civic dimension, affirming and defending the rights of different groups in society. These are movements about citizenship and about the rights that this notion entails. Far from being new, French movements reveal ongoing civic processes whereby marginalised groups at particular points in history have mobilised collectively to affirm their rights. Contemporary movements seek to redefine the nature of citizenship so that it reflects the changing social realities of France today."--Jacket
Threatened from above by economic globalization and European integration, and from below by the rise of identity politics, the French state has attempted to redefine its relationship to its citizens. Reinventing France examines the ways in which state action has endeavored to promote social integration in an increasingly fragmented nation and has challenged traditional concepts of an indivisible Republic and universal citizenship rights in order to achieve the core republican ideals of freedom, equality and solidarity.
"What did French intellectuals have to say about Gaullism, the Cold War, colonialism, the women's movements, and the events of May 1968? David Drake examines the political commitment of intellectuals in France from Sartre and Camus to Bernard-Henri Levy and Bourdieu. In this accessible study, he explores why there was a radical reassessment of the intellectual's role in the mid-1970s - 80s and how a new generation engages with Islam, racism, the Balkan wars and the strikes of 1995."--BOOK JACKET. Accounts Of Public Intellectuals In France And French Feminism Have Focused On A Specific Set Of Women Thinkers Overlooking Some Major Women Intellectuals. This Book Aims Redresses This Balance By Studying These Forgotten Intellectuals Creating A Cultural And Theoretical Re-evaluation Of The Gendered Phenomenon Of The Public Intellectual In France. This text discusses the issues and strategies which have characterized the environmental campaigns mounted against recent controversial infrastructure projects in France. It looks at why some protests succeed where others fail and at the relationship between states and social movements David Drake examines the political commitment of intellectuals in France from Sartre and Camus to Bernard Henri Levy and Bourdieu This volume has as its theme the reinventing of France in the early years of the new millennium.