Search

Never underrate the power of French unions. Don't be fooled by their apparently scant formal membership, tenuous financing, and violent ideological disagreements, this article based on recent firsthand observations advises. The truth is that unions in France represent and have the support of a large segment of the working force for, under French law, certain key union contracts set industry-wide labor standards to which all employers must adhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on archives and testimonies, this article focuses on the emotions expressed by participants in the May–June 1968 events in France and treats those emotions as an object of inquiry in their own right. By exploring the emotional experience of politics from below, this essay demonstrates that emotions helped establish the crisis atmosphere of May '68 and shaped its unfolding dynamic. From joy aroused by the opening of a wide field of possibilities to propulsive anger, mutual hatred, and fear, emotions were at the core of the "protagonism" of people discovering their capacity to influence the course of history and of the antagonisms among political stakeholders. Thus the article emphasizes both the benefits of analyzing moments of crisis through the prism of emotions and the significance of crises for the study of emotions in the social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies circulations between Algeria and France from the 1950s to the 1980s to analyze the social dynamics characteristic of Algerians in France and to highlight their range of choices and trajectories. Bypassing the historiographically dominant focus on male guest workers, this article claims that most flows between Algeria and France involved women and children, as well as men who had settled in France a long time ago. Moreover, it shows a large emigration flow from France to Algeria: of business men, vacationers or people moving back to Algeria. This analysis relies on statistical data as well as migrants' testimonies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social insurrection of May 1968 in France continues to provoke strong political debate. Compared to most French politicians and social commentators who dismiss or condemn it as an excessive adolescent rebellion, French anarchists contend that it was a substantial political rupture because participants challenged the legitimacy of all hierarchy and domination in every realm of society. Research into a wide range of French anarchist books and articles from 1988 to the present reveals several distinct approaches to May 68. Beyond narratives of the events themselves, anarchists emphasised the rapid spread and delight with horizontalist social relations of mutual aid and respect on campuses and in workplaces and neighbourhoods as 10 million French people went on strike for several weeks. This liberating experience, they contend, transformed the social consciousness of large numbers and led to the great surge of anarchic autonomous social movements in different realms in the 1970s. These writings also reveal important debate among anarchists themselves on whether May 68 was a revolution, whether revolution is even possible and how to organise a revolutionary movement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article will analyse, from a transnational history point of view, the actions of Spanish anarchists in France from 1945 onwards, especially the relationships and the projects that they developed with French anarchists. Moreover, it will study the difficulties of integration faced by the Spanish libertarian colony in France, the links built with their French comrades and the different actions carried out in the domains of trade unionism, culture, leisure and the armed struggle. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Education et Societes is the property of INRP and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ayer: Revista de Historia Contemporánea is the property of Asociacion de Historia Contemporanea and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article asks whether the wave of protest in the fall of 2010 in France can be interpreted as evidence of persisting radicalism. It argues that, in spite of appearances, the French labor movement is no longer radical. This claim does not imply that industrial conflict is disappearing. Strong legacies and institutional processes still feed conflict in the workplace and often push workers to use contentious, extra-institutional means; but industrial conflict is not what it used to be, with the total number of working days lost to strikes decreasing steadily over the past forty years, and with conflict itself being reconfigured and transformed. Labor contention is no longer driven by an offensive agenda and has become essentially defensive. If there is radicalism left in France, it might be best described as a "radicalism of tradition." The article concludes by discussing the relevance of "radicalism" as an analytical category to make sense of labor contention in contemporary France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns humanitarian debates in France in the 1980s, in particular as inspired by the activism of the organization Médecins sans Frontières (MSF). It examines three episodes of debate about compromise and the complicity of humanitarian activism in totalitarian repression: a protest march at the Cambodian border in 1980, spearheaded by MSF; the creation by MSF in 1985 of a political think tank, the Fondation Liberté sans Frontières, with its inaugural conference attacking Third Worldism; and finally, MSF’s stand in 1985 against the manipulation of aid by the Ethiopian government. It seeks to demonstrate how the realization of humanitarianism’s vulnerability to manipulation emerged from a period of intensified, politically targeted activism. The analysis focuses on two key strands of debate: attitudes to ideology, specifically Third Worldist ideology, and the use of the media as part of the sans-frontiériste practice of témoignage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the turn of the millennium, French society has become the theatre of a noticeable Black agency. Few previous events have ignited the media's interest in a Black French agenda more than the Collectif Égalité-led "March for the dignity of Black peoples" and the formation of the Conseil Représentatif des Associations Noires (CRAN). Through these newly-founded organizations, French activists of African descent have been challenging the hegemonic ideology of color-blindness, and heralding the claims, problems, and expectations of postcolonial African-descended people. Informed by this ideology of so-called color-blindness, the academic literature in France has been slow to account for this new form of political expression. Moreover, as this article will argue, postcolonial African-descended people have not been recognized as political agents in the French literature. Few studies have attempted to correct this myopic view by analyzing the current political dynamic of postcolonial African-descended people. Due to the state-centered or institutionalist approach, these studies are more concerned with high- lighting external and structural factors, such as racial discrimination, at the expense of endogenous determinants. They focus on what postcolonial African-descended people are denied in the French society instead of investigating the qualities these citizens actually possess that enable them to organize collectively. This article is intended to contribute to this new literature. It will pinpoint the different transformations that postcolonial African-descended people have undergone from the 1960s through the 1990s, examine the resources and skills under these actors' control, and gauge the contribution of these resources and skills to the emergence of a Black collective voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political class in France, especially the left, has been profoundly shaped by the revolutionary heritage of 1789. Determined to combat the determinisms that fractured French society under the ancien regime, such as religion, the individual was reconfigured, first as a citizen and then, by the left, as indistinguishable from a class, the proletariat. While in both cases the conceptualization of the individual had the benefit of unity and clarity, the abstract nature of these notions too often left out those very factors that are most significant to those individuals themselves for their self-definition. Moreover, the social transformation of France since the 1960s has exposed the culture-specific conditioning that underlay the apparent neutrality of the conceptualization of the individual bequeathed by 1789. Raymond explores how the left has struggled with its intellectual heritage in its relationship with minorities, especially Muslims, from the xenophobic populism of the Communists in the early 1980s to the recognition proposed by some Socialists during their last period in government. Paradoxically, the institutional accommodation reached with the Islamic community by the centre-right governments of the past decade, notably the creation of the Conseil Francais du Culte Musulman (French Council of the Muslim Faith) in 2002, built on the initiatives of previous Socialist administrations. They set the course for a better integration of the Muslim community by transforming Islam en France (Islam in France) into an Islam de France (French Islam). But in spite of the initial impetus given by the Socialists to the institutional assimilation of Islam, their reactions to the emergence of a French Islamic identity remain contradictory. The question therefore persists as to whether the left in France, impregnated by a historically conditioned secularism, can be reconciled with a community defined by its faith through the emergence of a 'Gallican' Islam, or whether the time has come for a fundamental reappraisal of the ideology of the French left, and even the Republic itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Second World War, the French athletics team included many sportsmen from outside mainland France, mainly from Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia), Black Africa, and Overseas, who distinguished themselves by their performances at the highest national and indeed international levels. How did the French sports press, in particular the mainland press, report these performances, which overturned colonial hierarchies and challenged “white superiority”? This article will describe the coverage, from a quantitative perspective, of these non-mainland athletes in the columns of L'Equipe, France's main multi-sports daily newspaper (after first determining the origin of the members of the French athletics team and pinpointing the arrival and gradual integration of athletes born outside mainland France). [Observations are limited here to male athletes. Women born outside mainland France joined the French athletic elite later than men, making it difficult to include both male and female athletes in the context of a single study. After 1945, the first French woman born outside mainland France to join the athletic elite was Martinique's Emma Sulter in 1970. In the United States, no African-born American woman picked up a gold medal until the 1948 Olympic Games.] Our objective is to test the hypothesis that these coloured athletes from the French colonies were discriminated against in the media. Indeed, American studies with comparable subject matter have shown different media coverage for “white” and “black” sportsmen. Our results show that the French athletic elite opened its doors to the colonies during the second half of the twentieth century, as the first wave of non-mainland athletes was integrated into the French team between 1946 and 1968. In fact, athletes from Maghreb were present in relatively high numbers; those from Overseas were starting to be integrated, and the numbers of people coming from Black Africa were reaching their highest levels. During this period, L'Equipe gave non-mainland athletes proportionately higher coverage than was warranted by their presence in the elite. This over-representation was even more marked in the case of athletes from Overseas and Black Africa (while it seems that North Africans had slightly less coverage compared with their presence in the French team). It would appear, therefore, that in terms of quantity France's main sports daily did not discriminate against athletes who were not born on the mainland, but quite the reverse, with the relative exception of athletes from Maghreb. Several interpretations of this over-representation will be considered, including: a disparity in terms of practice level between the groups of athletes; the particular features of French colonial history with regard to racial stereotypes; and the effect of mental categorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author tackles the mixture of anger and hope, poverty and politics that he observed when he arrived in 1989 in La Courneuve, a suburb in Paris, France, which revealed to him a side of Paris that was rarely seen. He says that La Courneuve was not always an urban ghetto, but was a site of social progress. He relates his experience in observing the opening kick-off of their quarterfinal football game against the Jets from St-Cloud in June 1980. He mentions that everything in France was politicized, and roots of French American football were communist.

The article presents a profile of the French urban sociologist Paul-Henry Chombart de Lauwe and an exploration into the development of his social philosophy. Discussion is given highlighting how Chombart de Lauwe's involvement with the working class evolved his activities in the discipline of sociology into a city-planning democratization advocate during the post-World War II era. Comments are given relating the various elements which influenced this turn in Chombart de Lauwe, including his contact with liberal Catholic associations, his research on the needs of the working class, and his studies under ethnologist Marcel Mauss.

During the later 20th century, France experienced a dramatic turn around in the quality of its housing. The current cohort of older people witnessed and lived through the transformation. Most people aged over 50 years in France are homeowners and almost one-in-four own a second home. Although the oldest age groups are much less residentially mobile than younger people, home moves are more likely around the age of retirement or widowhood. In recent years, new forms of residential mobility in later life have been emerging. These include a weakening of the commonly observed pattern of a permanent drift away from cities and towns towards areas of childhood origin or family connections. One current trend suggests a preference for preserving residential links with areas of relatively high population density and good access to amenities, coupled with being able to spend time elsewhere, whether in second homes, in children's and grandchildren's homes, or elsewhere. The arrival of the post-1945 baby-boom cohort at retirement has begun, and this may increase the current level of residential mobility and lead to more diverse types, although the change will depend on the development of the housing market as well as residential preferences in old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literary criticism of the book "Mythologies" by Roland Barthes is presented. Social order in France as depicted in the beginning articles of the book is examined in terms of alienation and mythology. Reconciliation, theoretical frameworks, relationships with objects, and the agency of things are unpacked alongside acculturation and the possibilities of plastic. Human subjectivity and its possible reconstitution are touched upon.

The article discusses the implications of the ideological shift prompted by the Fifth French Republic on the country's national identity. It cites studies that examined the genesis of the Fifth Republic that highlighted the need to clearly define nationality and citizenship. Moreover, it discusses the country's issues on national identity by citing its post-independence relations with sub-Saharan African states and the prevailing attitudes of the French North African minority population.

This article looks at the religious implications of the scarf affairs that took place in France in 1989 and 2002. The events sparked a call for the prohibition of religious signs in educational institutions. The author notes that political analyses of this legislation have been made but there have been few religious responses published. In this article, the author attempts to make such a response, focusing on how the Jewish leadership reacted in the face of rising anti-Semitic actions.

This article proposes a comparative account of the progress of the managerial revolution in France and Norway over the post-World War Two period. This account is set and framed within theoretical discussions on and around 'Americanization'. We argue that in both the French and Norwegian cases the managerial revolution has been closely tied to a process of Americanization that has had an impact on economic institutions, organizations and philosophy. The process of Americanization has to be contextualized for each of those two countries. The nature of the process has also evolved considerably over time - from 1945 to today. Hence, we propose that the progress of the managerial revolution in France and Norway could be looked at as a non-linear process, albeit with a deep structural logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the persistence of inequality when it comes to the political treatment of foreigners in comparison with the natives in France. Correlation of discrimination with the treatment of foreigners in France; Comment on the judicial situations which question the foreigner's right to stay in France and in turn limit his right to work; Annotation on some Algerian experiences regarding immigration and asylum seeking in France; Insight into the social conditions of emigrants in France.

Comments on the book "Les Ouvriers et La Politique. Permanence, ruptures, réalignements," by Guy Michelat and Michel Simon, on the late twentieth century France. Insight into the social and political alignments of France during the late twentieth century; State of employment in the country during the period; Ideological attitudes of the French society towards the political structure prevalent in the country during the period.

Copyright of Deviance et Societe is the property of Medecine et Hygiene and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article discusses how the singer-songwriter, Serge Gainsbourg, responded through the medium of song to the new socio-economic model which the USA came to represent, especially during the 1960s. Although certain songs express an ambivalent attitude towards the promotion of the société de consommation as well as the proliferation of American mass culture in France, these particular processes of modernisation are ultimately viewed as inexorable. The collection of songs discussed in this article makes an original contribution to perennial debates regarding France's relationship with the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the status of French hospitals in 1981. Descriptions are given of the social and medical treatment of patients in French hospitals. A comparison of private clinics and public hospitals is provided, along with comments on French public hospital hygiene. Statistics about hospitals and nurse-to-patient ratios across various countries are included.

The article presents abstracts for the featured essays of the issue, including Arnaud's Baubérrot's "Un projet de réforme hygiènique des modes de vie: naturistes et végétariens à la Belle Époque," Max Likin's "'Nothing Fails Like Success': The Marxism of Raymond Aron," and W. Brian Newsome's "Paul-Henry Chombart de Lauwe: Catholicism, Social Science, and Democratic Planning."

An excerpt from a speech by French Minister President M. Pierre Mendés-France is presented in which he discusses the social conditions in his country.