Waubonsee Community College

Contemporary France, Helen Drake

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 224-227) and index

mapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

Contemporary France

bibliography

232981079

Helen Drake

Contemporary states and societies

This book is an introduction to contemporary France, providing systematic coverage of culture, society, economy, and politics set in a historical and geographical context. A central theme is the relationship between popular images of France flowing from its cultural, culinary, and linguistic influence, its appeal as a tourist destination, and the influence of its republican and revolutionary heritage, and the often contradictory realities of French society facing up to globalization, Europeanization and the other challenges of the 21st century. The book deals with the issue of whether or not France has come to terms with its tumultuous past, its wars, civil strife and rapid modernization following the devastation of World War II. It also examines key aspects of French political culture and looks at how the core republican principles of liberty, equality and fraternity are being interpreted and implemented today

History and Legacies. The making of the French nation state ; The postwar transformations of France ; Gaullist France in the Cold War years ; Change and continuity: Francois MItterand's France ; From Jacques Chirac to Nicolas Sarkozy: France enters the twenty-first century -- France and the French. La terre, territory and le terroir ; Who are the twenty-first century French? -- Politics and Political Culture. French political culture ; French political parties in a bipolar party system ; French politics and twenty-first century problems -- Government, Policy-Making and the Republican State. The semi-presidential regime of the Fifth French Republic ; The state and the republic: grand ideas into policy ; Decentralization and local democracy ; France in Europe, Europe in France -- A Social French Republic. Social structures and social policy ; A secular state in a diverse society ; Education, class and opportunity -- Culture and Identity. The politics of French culture ; International cultural diplomacy ; Contemporary culture and cultural identities -- Economy and Business. The French Republic in the global economy ; Dirigisme, the state and the market ; France in the European (EU) economy ; Labor, capital and the state ; The French business environment in the twenty-first century -- France in the World. The weight of the past ; The challenge of the future: post Cold War review ; The European Union ; France and the 'Anglo-Saxons' ; France in the wider world ; Remembering the past, shaping the future