France since the 1970s

Until the mid-20th century, France saw itself as a great power with universalist aspirations and global ambitions. But the Second World War and decolonisation irrevocably changed France's place in the world. Despite attempts to restore the country's 'grandeur' in the 1960s, the French have been forced to reconcile themselves to their modest place at the heart of a changing Europe. What impact has this had on political life? How have the French reimagined the revolutionary, republican and reactionary ideologies that have been so crucial to their history? How has the arrival of hundreds of thousands of postcolonial migrants transformed politics? These are just some of the questions at the heart of France since the 1970s. With contributions from leading specialists on topics as varied as the legacy of empire and neo-liberalism, it explores how the French have dealt with the pervasive sense of uncertainty that has become a defining feature of contemporary European politics.

Emile Chabal is a Chancellor's Fellow in History at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Introduction. French politics in an age of uncertainty Emile Chabal (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Part I: French politics beyond right and left
1. The great upheaval: left and right in contemporary French politics Pascal Perrineau (Sciences Po, Paris, France)
2. The Front National since the 1970s: electoral impact and party system change Jim Shields (Aston University, UK)
3. Class, class conflict and the left: the place of the people in French politics Nick Hewlett (University of Warwick, UK)
4. The melancholy of post-Communism: François Furet and the 'passions' Christophe Prochasson (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France)
Part 2: The politics of postcolonialism in contemporary France
5.The cost of decolonisation: compensating the pieds-noirs Yann Scioldo-Zürcher (CNRS, Université de Poitiers, France)
6. From militancy to history: Sans Frontière and immigrant memory at the dawn of the 1980s Daniel A. Gordon (Edge Hill University, UK)
7. Algeria in Paris: 50 years on Isabel Hollis (Queen's University, Belfast, UK)
8. France's nostalgias for empire Patricia M. E. Lorcin (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, USA)
Part 3: Republicanism, liberalism and the changing contours of French intellectual life
9. Justifying capitalism in an age of uncertainty: L'Association pour la Liberté Économique et le Progrès Social, 1969-1973 Michael C. Behrent (Appalachian State University, USA)
10. France's anti-68 liberal revival Iain Stewart (Queen Mary, University of London, UK)
11. Republicanism and the critique of human rights Camille Robcis (Cornell University, USA)
12. Cultural insecurity and political solidarity: French republicanism reconsidered Sophie Guérard de Latour (Université Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne, France)
Conclusion. France: the eternal crisis? Sudhir Hazareesingh (University of Oxford, UK)
Index