Transatlantic Identities

This course examines the historical impact of the idea of universalism and its role in shaping French and American societies in the late modern era. Beginning with the notion of universal rights and the modern understanding of the citizen as articulated in the political philosophy of the Enlightenment and in the spirit of the American and French revolutions, we will trace the development of the relationship between individual, community and society on both sides of the Atlantic throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Reading a combination of original documents and academic works, we will address the systematic political and historical shortcomings of the universalist ideal, such as the practice of slavery and numerous forms of discrimination and exclusion, and elucidate how this ideal played a role both in sustaining and abolishing injustice. We will also explore various challenges to universalism, from transcendentalism in 19th century New England to existentialism and negritude in mid-20th century Paris, which modified and sometimes diminished its importance, leading up to the demographical and intellectual transformations of the recent post-colonial past. Whereas the 19th and 20th century saw a gradual expansion of the universal and a struggle for inclusion, this fight subsequently partially gave way to a search for multiplicity and communal identities, a development that in many ways highlighted the historical and political differences between France and the United States.   

Finally, we will address the meaning and relevance of the universalist ideal today. Throughout the course, the shared history of France and the United States will be explored both as a gradual divergence along the Atlantic divide and as a series of frequent philosophical and political exchanges. Although structured as a comparative study of France and the United States, the syllabus will often place a stronger emphasis on events and developments relating to French history, which will be less familiar to American students