Tema destacado del Viernes, 30. Marzo 2007

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The French call into question their 'national identity"

Nicolas Sarkozy, the right-wing Presidential candidate has provoked a heated debate in France by proposing the creation of a 'ministry of immigration and national identity'. What is national identity and how can it be defined in relation to European identity currently evolving ?

Le Jeudi - Luxemburgo

Jean Portante points out that "national identity is a vague concept, defying definition, in which we can breathe the best and the worst. There is no doubt that when Ségolène Royal talks of the nation, she is thinking of values such as secularism, human rights, social justice, equality of the sexes, democracy etc. But in what way are these values exclusively French ? And how can she be sure that those listening are on the same wave length? And how can a minister, as advocated by Nicolas Sarkozy, be fit to define the essence of national identity ? There is nothing more difficult and dangerous than to claim to define the identity of a nation. What does it mean to be French, Luxembourgeois, Italian, German... ? It is a philosophical question to which no thinker worthy of the name has found a definitive answer. How then can presidential candidates take it on themselves to do so without demagogy or bad faith ?" (29/03/2007)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Migración, » Integración, » Francia
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Le Temps - Suiza

The journalist Pierre Veya regrets that the candidates for the French presidential election have chosen "withdrawal". "Instead of developing a discourse to anticipate change, they have taken up a protective stance which is totally mothering and have fallen back on the concept of national identity to persuade themselves that the Gallic village will resist the invaders of the modern world. France continues to think that the world will come around to its way of thinking, forgetting that each nation must accept the diversity of other nations and should open up to the world to enrich itself. ... In a tragic way, the current withdrawal into notions of French identity and protectionism reinforces the idea of decline for which globalisation is held responsible although France, like any country, holds all the cards of its fortune for good or ill." (30/03/2007)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Migración, » Integración, » Francia
Todos los textos disponible de » Pierre Veya

Les Echos - Francia

The columnist Françoise Fressoz considers that the debate on national identity is "an imperious necessity at a time when crisis has gripped not one identity but two : the French and the European, making France a tiny thing amidst global chaos. [But the presidential candidates] cannot fight off the blues in the French soul with amalgams (watch out for immigration !) or patriotic songs (long live the 'Marseillaise'), according to ratings in opinion polls. They will only have done with it when they state clearly in which direction they want steer the country. The point of a presidential election is exactly that: to talk about France, how it relates to Europe and the rest of the world, to identify its weaknesses, highlight its strong points, choose its allies and know its enemies. Once the overall picture is clear, it will be much easier to find a rallying discourse in which the pride of being French can find its place." (30/03/2007)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Migración, » Integración, » Francia
Todos los textos disponible de » Françoise Fressoz

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