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.
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction; S.Milner & N.Parsons
PART I: STATE AND NATION
French Politics in the Twenty-First Century: Invention or Muddling Through?; D.Hanley
Reinventing the French State; J.Hayward
The French State and the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century; P.Sadran
Redefining the Franco-German Relationship; J-M.Trouille
French Subnational Government and the European Union: The Relocation and Reformulation of Governance and the Restructuring of Policy; D.Howarth
PART II: STATE AND SOCIETY
Beyond the 'Crisis of Representation'? A Case Study of Innovation in French Local Government; S.Collins
Education for Citizenship: Reinventing the French Republic; H.Starkey
The French 'Melting Pot': Outdated - Or in Need of Reinvention?; M.Tribalat
Reinventing Everyday Life in France: The Reduction of Working Time; M-C.Kok Escalle
PART III: HISTORY AND IDENTITY
Wartime Deportation from France: Can the French Still Remember as a Nation?; M.Martin
Facing The Past: French Wartime Memories at the Millennium; H.Diamond & C.Gorrara
Conclusion; S.Milner & N.Parsons
SUSAN MILNER is Director of the European Research Institute and Reader in European Studies at the University of Bath. Her research interests include employment policy in France and the European Union, labour movements and globalization, and urban governance regimes. Her recent publications include editorship of a special issue of Journal of European Integration on Euroscepticism, and joint editorship of a special issue of Modern and Contemporary France on Globalization. She is currently involved in a comparative Franco-British research project on family-friendly employment.
NICK PARSONS is Senior Lecturer in French at Cardiff University. He has published widely on aspects of contemporary French politics and society, particularly in the field of industrial relations. He is the author of Employee Participation in Europe: A Case Study in the British and French Gas Industries.