May 04

Student Revolt, Paris, 1968

France Student activism Trackbacks (0)

40 years later, France debates, dissects, and disagrees about the legacy of student protest

May 1968, France's fast-forward revolution
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/bhistoryb-france-is-still-torn-over-its-revolution-forty-years-on/2008/04/28/1209234751594.html 

France Still Divided Over Lessons of 1968 Unrest [Free registration may be required]
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/world/europe/30france.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Visiting the ghosts of Paris 1968
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7354335.stm

Time: Battle of the Sorbonne
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,838353,00.html

BBC Radio 4: 1968, the Year of Revolutions [Real Player]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/1968/yearofrevolutions.shtml

Echoes of 1968 [Real Player]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89372462

Revolution was certainly nothing new to France in 1968, but a series of student protests that began at Nanterre University in March that year continues to be a polarizing subject of conversation throughout the country. Eventually the university was closed in May, and students began a widespread attack on the outdated rules imposed on them by the university system across France. Demonstrations and riots soon engulfed the Latin Quarter and the Sorbonne and forty years later, the country remains deeply divided about the legacy of these events. Even the language used by different factions within French society reflects the stark differences, as the right refers to the protests as "the events", while the left refers to these protests as "the movement". One person who has not minced any words about his feelings on the matter is French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who has stated that May 1968 represents anarchy and moral relativism. A student activist from that period, Andre Glucksmann, recently commented, "Sarkozy is the first post-'68 president. To liquidate '68 is to liquidate himself." [KMG]

The first link leads to an excellent article from this Tuesday's The Age (Melbourne), which discusses the legacy of the student protests and demonstrations in France 40 years ago. The second link will whisk users away to an article from the New York Times about the legacy of the protests and general perceptions about these events in contemporary France. The third link will take visitors to a personal reflection on the protests offered by BBC correspondent John Pickford. Moving on, the fourth link leads to a piece on the protests that originally appeared in the May 17, 1968 edition of Time magazine. The fifth link whisks users away to a four-part series from the BBC on the "year of revolutions" conducted by Sir John Tusa. The final link will lead visitors to a nice series from National Public Radio on the various social and political upheavals going on in the United States during 1968. [KMG] Scout Report
February 20

Charles De Gaulle

France Trackbacks (0)
Charles de Gaulle This site is maintained by Fondation et Institut Charles de Gaulle to promote the life and political career of former French president Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970). It includes biographical information, a chronology of key events, extracts from important speeches and other documents, political cartoons and caricatures. Topics covered include: his work for the French resistance (free French) during World War Two, French politics and the Fifth Republic, the process of French decolonisation in the post war period and France and the European community. Other features of the site include lesson plans, reading lists and links to other Internet resources. All information currently offered in French only. From Intute.ac.uk
http://www.de-gaulle-edu.net/
January 24

40th Anniversary: Student Protests Of May 1968

France United Kingdom Europe Trackbacks (0)
1968 and All That This website was created to support an international conference and bookfair to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the social movements and student protests of May 1968. In addition to information about the conference (Saturday, 10 May 2008, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square London WC1) The website also includes a useful collection of essays, film clips and digitised posters from contributors. Topics covered by these include the Paris may 1968 protests, eye witness accounts of protests in London and discussion of the nature and impact of left wing politics of the late 1960s. From Intute.ac.uk
http://www.1968andallthat.net/
November 01

Nicolas Sarkozy

Policy France Trackbacks (0)

Nicolas Sarkozy: The Hyperpresident
Source: The Brookings Institution

Sarkozy’s honeymoon, of course, will not last forever. The vested interests who oppose change will resist and try to sabotage his reforms, the government will inevitably make mistakes, and, eventually, the opposition will find its feet (and new leaders). Most important, if recent signs that the French economy is slowing bear out, the government’s popularity—and its abilityto implement its promised reforms—will take a severe hit, as unemployment and budget deficits mount. Even so, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that something significant has happened in France. The French have elected a leader who has promised to break with thirty years of welfare-state stasis at home and conventional risk-averse diplomacy abroad, and whose energy, dynamism and ambition have not been seen since the foundation of the Fifth Republic in 1 958. Sarkozy’s success in reforming France over the next five years is far from guaranteed. More certain is that this determined hyperprésident is going to try, and that France will never be the same again.

+ Full Paper (PDF; 180 KB)

Docuticker

September 23

France On Iran

Iran France Trackbacks (0)

What France Is Really Up To On Iran
Source: Center for Strategic & International Studies

Has the French government flipped? After opposing the use of force in Iraq under President Jacques Chirac, recently elected President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who is in Washington on Thursday, are reportedly leading the charge for the use of force against Iran. Those reports, however, are misleading and overlook the real change in French strategy on Iran.

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Docuticker

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May 27

French Presidential Election, 2007.

Elections France Trackbacks (0)

New Web Archive: PACTE-FJP French Political Parties and Candidates for the 2007 Presidential Election

Collection of a wide range of French political parties and candidates captured along the 2007 electoral campaign. Research project on the "Fabric of Political Judgement".

Keyword searchable.
Source: Archive-It, Internet Archive

The Resourceshelf

May 24

New French Presidency

Africa France Trackbacks (0)

Collection of news and analysis about the 2007 election of Nicolas Sarkozy as the president of France. Includes a February 2007 interview with Sarkozy, consideration of the economic impact of the new president, and a discussion of potential reform of presidential powers (such as the special "Africa cell" of advisers working on policy for the African continent). Also includes photos and links to related articles and sites. From the British newspaper The Financial Times.

LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/23871