SOCIETY AND POLITICS

SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Compared to many other modern countries, French citizens have broad commonalities. The overwhelming majority of people speak and write French, and most have common experiences in their early years within the highly centralized public education system. Indeed, a famous, often-told story involves a government minister who looks at his watch and declares that at that moment students across France were all conjugating the same verb! However, social cleavages do exist &endash; some old and some relatively new. Important divisions in society include:

middle class vs. working class - The French, like the English, are very conscious of social class differences. However, the legacy of the French Revolution is one of equality. The resentments that boiled over against the aristocracy set in motion an antagonism toward the upper classes that is still present today. Today the gap between French working and middle class remains large, partly because the education system (beginning in high school) strongly favors the middle class. In recent years class distinctions have lessened, but antagonisms still erupt, often in the form of protest.

urban vs. rural - One way to see this split is to think of Parisians as being very different from all the rest of France. Indeed, Parisians seem to see themselves differently, and when they spill into the countryside for their August vacations, people of the areas they invade complain about their "arrogant" ways. Another type of regionalism is North vs. South. The North (including Paris) is more heavily industrialized, and Germanic influences are stronger. The South has a Mediterranean feel to it, with generally a more relaxed atmosphere. Politically, southerners tend to be more conservative than their northern neighbors.

religious vs nonreligious - 80 to 90% of all French citizens are baptized as Catholics, but only about 10% actually go to church. Church attendance is higher in rural areas and in the south, but most French people are fairly casual about their religion. Historically, this split has been very important, going back to the French Revolution. The supporters of the Revolution were generally anticlerical because the church had large landholdings just as the nobles did. To the radicals of the Revolution, the church was responsible for much inequality and injustice in the land. Others supported the church and developed great antagonisms toward the "satanic" radicals who wanted to strip the church of wealth and land. By the nineteenth century, church and state were separates, and the rift became less acute. Although this split has lost its bite as more believers have become more lax in their practices, political attitudes are affected, with believers being more likely to vote conservatively.

Native French vs. immigrants from northern and equatorial Africa - This cleavage is a more recent one, but many observers see it as a major source of discord within French society and the political system. After Algeria received independence from the French in the 1950s, many Algerians associated with colonialism immigrated to France to escape the new Algerian government's wrath. Today, there are some 9 million foreigners living in France, about 16 percent of the entire population. Between 4 and 5 million are Muslims from northern and equatorial Africa, and this last group's arrival in France has caused racial tensions. Many have not assimilated into French society, partly because of prejudice toward them, and partly because they don't want to abandon their customs. For example, some French people have been horrified by the polygamous practices of some Muslim families. French schools require students to wear uniforms, and some Muslim girls have refused to abandon their head scarves as signs of their religion. The result has been the creation of U.S.-style ghettoes with high crime rates and accusations of police harassment of young Muslim men. Politically, the National Front - the political party on the far right - has focused on a policy of deporting them, not integrating them into French society.

For one example of the conflict between natives and immigrations, see http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020622-82911303.htm