Using a thematic approach, this course deals with the question of French identity, encouraging students to engage in and debate key issues that have challenged society in the post-War War II era. To this end, the course examines France’s main political and social institutions, with an eye towards discerning how France’s current society is an heir of its complex history and traditions. The course aims to provide with a deeper understanding of a culture often simplified in traditional media.
Attendance policy:
Since IES courses are designed to take advantage of the unique contribution of the instructor and the lecture/discussion format is regarded as the primary mode of instruction, regular class attendance is mandatory. Each student may have no more than one absence in each course for whatever reasons. Your final grade in the course will be reduced by one fraction of a grade (i.e. A becomes A -) after that.
Method of presentation:
Lecture and seminar discussion
Required work and form of assessment:
Participation (15%); *10-15 minute presentation
(15%); 10-page research paper (25%); midterm exam (20%); final exam (25%)
Student Presentation: Each student is required to make at least one oral presentation (10-15 min.) on one of the topics indicated below and give a brief written version to the professor. Presentations complement major issues covered in class on a more detailed level. They will take place during regular class time, as related topics are discussed. Presentations should be lively and well prepared (i.e. reading aloud a text downloaded from the net is not acceptable) and lead to a class discussion. (
Suggested Topics for Presentations:
Voting in France French Demographics Political Parties Today
What future for the University (2009)?
The Notion of public service (service public)
The Notion of déclassement (the crisis of the middle class) The ANPE and the Pôle Emploi
The French Social Security
The ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration) and the Grandes Ecoles
Unions (les syndicats) Unemployment Today (le Chômage) The Right to Strike
The Law of 1905
The Loi Weil (1974) La parité
Main principles of the Fifth Republic
The European Constitution
The Euro
The Treaty of Lisbon
The Presidents of the Fifth Republic
The “Septennat” and “Quinquennat” systems. The “Cohabitation.” The Pompidou Center
Ariane Mnouchkine and the Théâtre du soleil
The Comédie française
Le petit Nicolas
Plantu
The Guignols
The French tradition of Bande Dessinée (graphic novel) The Museum of Quai Branly
French Cinema
The politics of Grands travaux (the Très Grande Bibliothèque, the Grand Louvre, the Défense, etc.) The Avignon Festival
Advertisement (the Pub)
Tarik Ramadan
The association « Ni putes ni soumises » ; Fadela Amara
The PACS
Students may also suggest a topic of presentation.
content:
Introduction. What is France for you?
PART ONE: HISTORY and INSTITUTIONS
A Short History of Modern France. From the Revolution to the Riots
Readings: David Howard and Georgios Varouxakis,Contemporary France. An Introduction to French
Politics and Society. London: Arnold, 2003), pp. 1-18 (hereafter “Howarth”).
Vaisse Justin, “Unrest in France, November 2005: Immigration, Islam and the Challenge of
Integration”(January 12, 2006) available on the Brookings Inst. website
(http://www.brookings.edu/testimony/2006/0112france_vaisse/vaisse20060112...)
Laurence, Jonathan, “Understanding the Urban Riots in France” in New Europe Review (December 1st,
2005) available on the Brookings Institutions website: (http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2005/1201france_laurence.aspx)
The Fifth Republic
Readings: Howard, pp. 35-69
Anne Sa’adah, Contemporary France. A Democratic Education. “The Gaullist Vision,” pp.99-106.
Political Forces and Representation
Readings: Howard, pp. 70-100.
French Economic and Social Policy
Readings: Howarth, pp.155-181. Sa’adah, Contemporary France, a Democratic Education: pp. 161-190.
Unemployment and Strategies
Readings: Daniel Béland and Randall Hansen, “Reforming the French Welfare State: Solidarity, Social
Exclusion and Three Crises of Citizenship,” West European Politics,Vol. XXIII, no.1 (January 2000), pp.46-64.
Gunnar Trumbull, “Policy Activism in a Globalized Economy. France’s 35-hour Workweek,” French
Politics, Culture and Society, vol. XX, no.3, pp. 1-21.
The Referendum and the Treaty of Lisbon. French Identity in question?
Readings: Howarth, pp. 188-207. John Ardagh, France in the New Century. Portrait of a Changing
Society. London: Penguin, 2000, pp.678-691.
Elaine Sciolino, “French No Vote on European Constitution Rattles Continent,” New York Times, May 31,
2005. www.nytimes.com
The Treaty of Lisbon at a Glance: europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/glance/index_en.htm
The Justice System
Readings: Presentation: www. ambafrance-us.org/IMG/pdf/Justice_ag.pdf
John Lichfield, “Sarkozy goes to war with Napoleon's legal legacy. President accused of putting government above the law with plan to repeal 200-year-old system,” www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe
Film: Raymond Depardon’s “Tenth District Court” (“Instants d’audience”)
Midterm Exam
PART TWO. FRENCH VALUES IN TODAY’S WORLD
The Ecole Republicaine: Theory and Practice
Readings: Howarth, pp.141-153. Sabbagh, Daniel. “Affirmative Action at Sciences Po,” in French Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. XX, no. 3, (Fall 2002), pp. 52-64.
Film: “Entre les murs”(“The Class”)
Multiculturalism in Question
Readings: Schnapper, Dominique. “The Debate on Immigration and the Crisis of National Identity,” West
European Politics, Vol. XVII, no. 2 (April 1994), pp.126-139.
Cécile Laborde, “The Cultures of the Republic. Nationalism and Republicanism in French Republican Thought,” Political Theory, Vol. 29, no. 5, October 2001, pp.716-35. Jeremy Jennings, “Citizenship, Republicanism and Multiculturalism in Contemporary France,” British Journal of Political Science, Vol. XXX, no. 4 (October 2000), pp. 575-98.
Justin Vaisse, “Muslims in Europe. A Short Introduction,” (September 2008) available on the Brookings Institutions website: (http://www.brookings.edu/media/Files/rc/papers/2008/09_europe_muslims_va... s_vaisse.pdf)
French Society Today
Readings: Howarth, pp. 24-33
Film: “L’Esquive”
The Veil Controversy
Readings: Justin Vaisse, “The Veil Controversy: International Perspectives on Religion in Public Life,” available on the Brookings Institutions Website: (http://www.brookings.edu/r/media/Files/events/2004/0419france/20040419.pdf)
Weil, Patrick. “Lifting the Veil,” French Politics, Culture and Society, Vol.XXII, no. 3, Autumn 2004, pp.142-9.
Nicolas Weill, “What’s in a Scarf? The Debate on Laïcité in France,” French Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. 24, no.1, Spring 2006, pp.59-73.
Elaine R. Thomas, “France Renewed Reaction to the ‘Islamic Headscarf’: The Role of the Republican
Model of Citizenship in Shapîng French Public Responses to New Social Actors,” Document de Travail de la Chaire de Recherche du Canada en Mondialisation, Citonneyeté et Démocratie (avril 2004), pp. 3-27.
Mirroring Society: French Media Today
Readings: Raymond Kuhn, The Media in France. London and New York: Routledge, 1995, pp. 1-14 and
228-43.
Conclusion: What is French Culture?
Required readings:
Forbes, Jill & Michael Kelly (eds). French Cultural Studies. An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1995.
Hewitt, Nicholas (ed). The Cambridge Companion to Modern French Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003.
Ungar, Steven & Tom Conley (eds). Identity Papers. Contested Nationhood in Twentieth-Century France. Minneapolis, U.of Minnesota Press, 1996.
Using a thematic approach, this course deals with the question of French identity, encouraging students to engage in and debate key issues that have challenged society in the post-War War II era. To this end, the course examines France’s main political and social institutions, with an eye towards discerning how France’s current society is an heir of its complex history and traditions. The course aims to provide with a deeper understanding of a culture often simplified in traditional media.
Since IES courses are designed to take advantage of the unique contribution of the instructor and the lecture/discussion format is regarded as the primary mode of instruction, regular class attendance is mandatory. Each student may have no more than one absence in each course for whatever reasons. Your final grade in the course will be reduced by one fraction of a grade (i.e. A becomes A -) after that.
Lecture and seminar discussion
Participation (15%); *10-15 minute presentation
(15%); 10-page research paper (25%); midterm exam (20%); final exam (25%)
Student Presentation: Each student is required to make at least one oral presentation (10-15 min.) on one of the topics indicated below and give a brief written version to the professor. Presentations complement major issues covered in class on a more detailed level. They will take place during regular class time, as related topics are discussed. Presentations should be lively and well prepared (i.e. reading aloud a text downloaded from the net is not acceptable) and lead to a class discussion. (
Suggested Topics for Presentations:
Voting in France French Demographics Political Parties Today
What future for the University (2009)?
The Notion of public service (service public)
The Notion of déclassement (the crisis of the middle class) The ANPE and the Pôle Emploi
The French Social Security
The ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration) and the Grandes Ecoles
Unions (les syndicats) Unemployment Today (le Chômage) The Right to Strike
The Law of 1905
The Loi Weil (1974) La parité
Main principles of the Fifth Republic
The European Constitution
The Euro
The Treaty of Lisbon
The Presidents of the Fifth Republic
The “Septennat” and “Quinquennat” systems. The “Cohabitation.” The Pompidou Center
Ariane Mnouchkine and the Théâtre du soleil
The Comédie française
Le petit Nicolas
Plantu
The Guignols
The French tradition of Bande Dessinée (graphic novel) The Museum of Quai Branly
French Cinema
The politics of Grands travaux (the Très Grande Bibliothèque, the Grand Louvre, the Défense, etc.) The Avignon Festival
Advertisement (the Pub)
Tarik Ramadan
The association « Ni putes ni soumises » ; Fadela Amara
The PACS
Students may also suggest a topic of presentation.
Introduction. What is France for you?
PART ONE: HISTORY and INSTITUTIONS
A Short History of Modern France. From the Revolution to the Riots
Readings: David Howard and Georgios Varouxakis,Contemporary France. An Introduction to French
Politics and Society. London: Arnold, 2003), pp. 1-18 (hereafter “Howarth”).
Vaisse Justin, “Unrest in France, November 2005: Immigration, Islam and the Challenge of
Integration”(January 12, 2006) available on the Brookings Inst. website
(http://www.brookings.edu/testimony/2006/0112france_vaisse/vaisse20060112...)
Laurence, Jonathan, “Understanding the Urban Riots in France” in New Europe Review (December 1st,
2005) available on the Brookings Institutions website: (http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2005/1201france_laurence.aspx)
The Fifth Republic
Readings: Howard, pp. 35-69
Anne Sa’adah, Contemporary France. A Democratic Education. “The Gaullist Vision,” pp.99-106.
Political Forces and Representation
Readings: Howard, pp. 70-100.
French Economic and Social Policy
Readings: Howarth, pp.155-181. Sa’adah, Contemporary France, a Democratic Education: pp. 161-190.
Unemployment and Strategies
Readings: Daniel Béland and Randall Hansen, “Reforming the French Welfare State: Solidarity, Social
Exclusion and Three Crises of Citizenship,” West European Politics,Vol. XXIII, no.1 (January 2000), pp.46-64.
Gunnar Trumbull, “Policy Activism in a Globalized Economy. France’s 35-hour Workweek,” French
Politics, Culture and Society, vol. XX, no.3, pp. 1-21.
The Referendum and the Treaty of Lisbon. French Identity in question?
Readings: Howarth, pp. 188-207. John Ardagh, France in the New Century. Portrait of a Changing
Society. London: Penguin, 2000, pp.678-691.
Elaine Sciolino, “French No Vote on European Constitution Rattles Continent,” New York Times, May 31,
2005. www.nytimes.com
The Treaty of Lisbon at a Glance: europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/glance/index_en.htm
The Justice System
Readings: Presentation: www. ambafrance-us.org/IMG/pdf/Justice_ag.pdf
John Lichfield, “Sarkozy goes to war with Napoleon's legal legacy. President accused of putting government above the law with plan to repeal 200-year-old system,”
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe
Film: Raymond Depardon’s “Tenth District Court” (“Instants d’audience”)
Midterm Exam
PART TWO. FRENCH VALUES IN TODAY’S WORLD
The Ecole Republicaine: Theory and Practice
Readings: Howarth, pp.141-153. Sabbagh, Daniel. “Affirmative Action at Sciences Po,” in French Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. XX, no. 3, (Fall 2002), pp. 52-64.
Film: “Entre les murs”(“The Class”)
Multiculturalism in Question
Readings: Schnapper, Dominique. “The Debate on Immigration and the Crisis of National Identity,” West
European Politics, Vol. XVII, no. 2 (April 1994), pp.126-139.
Cécile Laborde, “The Cultures of the Republic. Nationalism and Republicanism in French Republican Thought,” Political Theory, Vol. 29, no. 5, October 2001, pp.716-35. Jeremy Jennings, “Citizenship, Republicanism and Multiculturalism in Contemporary France,” British Journal of Political Science, Vol. XXX, no. 4 (October 2000), pp. 575-98.
Justin Vaisse, “Muslims in Europe. A Short Introduction,” (September 2008) available on the Brookings Institutions website: (http://www.brookings.edu/media/Files/rc/papers/2008/09_europe_muslims_va... s_vaisse.pdf)
French Society Today
Readings: Howarth, pp. 24-33
Film: “L’Esquive”
The Veil Controversy
Readings: Justin Vaisse, “The Veil Controversy: International Perspectives on Religion in Public Life,” available on the Brookings Institutions Website: (http://www.brookings.edu/r/media/Files/events/2004/0419france/20040419.pdf)
Weil, Patrick. “Lifting the Veil,” French Politics, Culture and Society, Vol.XXII, no. 3, Autumn 2004, pp.142-9.
Nicolas Weill, “What’s in a Scarf? The Debate on Laïcité in France,” French Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. 24, no.1, Spring 2006, pp.59-73.
Elaine R. Thomas, “France Renewed Reaction to the ‘Islamic Headscarf’: The Role of the Republican
Model of Citizenship in Shapîng French Public Responses to New Social Actors,” Document de Travail de la Chaire de Recherche du Canada en Mondialisation, Citonneyeté et Démocratie (avril 2004), pp. 3-27.
Mirroring Society: French Media Today
Readings: Raymond Kuhn, The Media in France. London and New York: Routledge, 1995, pp. 1-14 and
228-43.
Conclusion: What is French Culture?
Forbes, Jill & Michael Kelly (eds). French Cultural Studies. An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1995.
Hewitt, Nicholas (ed). The Cambridge Companion to Modern French Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003.
Ungar, Steven & Tom Conley (eds). Identity Papers. Contested Nationhood in Twentieth-Century France. Minneapolis, U.of Minnesota Press, 1996.
Sarkozy, Nicolas, Preface to the international edition of Testimony: France, Europe and the World in the Twenty-First Century (2007), available on the Brookings Institution website: (http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/1101_sarkozy-gordon/Sarkozy_Testimo...