Author: Brigitte Jelen / Publishing Institution: Conference Group on French Politics Society

Author:: Brigitte Jelen
Publication Date:: 06-2005
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:: Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:: This article explores the tensions inherent in the implementation of specific spaces dedicated to the celebration of immigrant cultures in a nation based on an assimilationist model of citizenship.5 More specifically, it analyzes the possibilities for the recognition and visibility of cultural differences in a society where such differences are expected to remain socially invisible and limited to the private sphere. To illustrate this discussion in the historical context of post-colonial France, I will turn to the three most significant cultural projects implemented by the French government to acknowledge and make immigrant cultures visible: in 1977, Mosaïque, in 1984, Les Enfants de l'immigration, and finally, in 2004, the Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration.
Topic:: Culture
Political Geography:: France

Author:: Brigitte Jelen
Publication Date:: 03-2002
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:: Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:: A few months ago, the massacre of Algerian civilians by the French police on October 17, 1961 was finally officially recognized, as the new socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, placed a commemorative plaque on the Pont Saint-Michel. In his declaration to the press, Delanoë was careful to focus on the "Parisian" character of this ceremony, although the 1961 massacre was committed by the French national police. Perhaps Delanoë's noble and courageous gesture hides an ambiguity, an injustice to the victims? In order to understand the symbolic importance of this plaque in the construction of France's official memory of the Algerian war, this essay analyzes how the French government since 1962 has attempted to "forget" the conflict in the name of "national unity," in particular through the use of amnesty laws. In a discussion on forgiveness inspired by J. Derrida, the possibility of a French national memory of the Algerian war (and of the October 17, 1961 event) that would include the voices of the victims is considered.
Topic:: Government
Political Geography:: Paris and France

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