French Watch Log, Spring-Summer 2004
Spring-Summer 04 Watch Log - A sporadic review of recent French news, based mainly on France-Amérique:
Background: During Winter 04, in the context
of FRE 2720, I scanned likely story lines I wanted to follow,
and here is a general list:
-- Anything to do with Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far right
political party, le Front national (FN). This is the party that
managed to win a slightly greater percentage of votes in the first
round of elections in April 2002, with the result that the then
majority party, the Parti socialiste, and its leader, then Prime
Minister, Lionel Jospin, were knocked out of contention for the
presidential election the next month. Hence, the final pair in
the election was the incumbent president, the conservative Jacques
Chirac, versus the proto-fascist, Holocaust-denying, and anti-immigrant
Le Pen (to the embarrassment of the French).
-- Since my research field is in Louisiana Cajun studies, I should look out also for anything related to Cajun and Canadian Acadian developments in the French press. The French have even set up an English language web site (as well as French language site) on Louisiana culture, at http://www.louisiana.culture.fr/en/index.html
-- Another direction is the whole issue of educational reform. This is the big umbrella topic under which the very current controversy about secularizing religious symbols falls. This discussion began in Sept 2003 with the current Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, founding a commission to under take a "national debate on school", with a web site at www.debatnational.education.fr (source: France-Amérique 27 Sept 03)
-- Another topic to explore is the 35 hour work week in France. This was applied in the 1990s, under François Mitterand (i.e. before 1995), but during the fall, a national debate about it arose.
Now during Spring-Summer 04, I have been keeping track of items of interest appearing in France-Amérique, week by week:
27 March-2 April 2004:
-- On the Front National topic, the French regional elections on March 21, 2004 showed that the Left made a strong advance to the disadvantage of the conservative majority party, but that the Front national still maintained its small but tenacious presence. As a whole, the Left (Socialist Party, Communist Party, Greens) received just over 40%, the conservative right around 34%, the extreme Left about 5%, and the extreme Right (Front national and others) between 16%-17%. This represents an advance over the legislative elections in 2002 both for the Left AND for the Front national. The advance of the Right provides the Left with a weapon to brandish henceforth in its election campaigns, i.e. either the Left or Le Pen! These results also announce a return to prominence of the Socialist Party after the crushing defeat of Lionel Jospin in 2002.
-- Even though I don't plan to follow this (doubtful there will be any follow-up), there is an article about "ados masos", that is, masochistic adolescents, boys who have been inspired by a US MTV show, Jackass, and have been undertaking dangerous, indeed life-threatening pranks. Leave it to the French to link up the shenanigans of a few wild guys to a national Conference on the Family.
17-23 April 2004:
-- Still on the results of the regional elections, the Left captured 24 of the 26 presidential positions in the regions, and these presidents intend to organize a joint effort to cease the process of governmental "decentralization". So this constitutes an arm-wrestling match between the minority (Socialist) regional presidents and the conservative Prime Minister, Raffarin, who wants to pretend to be receptive to their demands while finding ways to ignore them and go ahead with the government politics as usual.
24-30 April 2004:
-- The question of France's "35 heures", i.e. the 35 hour work week, came up, with the Prime Minister Raffarin and his team saying they intend to leave things as they are. The issue is not to create a longer work week (which would lead to a revolution), but based on a report and recommendations prepared by Hervé Novelli, to find new ways to relieve pressures for businesses (in terms of new hiring, especially difficult for the small enterprises), for salary-earners (in terms of savings), and for the unions and business owners' associations.
1-7 May 2004:
-- The fallout from the regional elections with the headline, "The regional Socialist Party presidents want to pursue the struggle with Raffarin", on the process of decentralization that the conservative government is pursuing. The conflict is aggravated by Raffarin more or less ignoring the presidents' demands, but also not responding to their specific demands to block the transfer of non-teaching employees.
-- Back to the Winter conflict of the law against the veils, the "second act" of this drama: "After the vote on the law forbinning 'in grade schools, middle schools and public high schools, the wearing of signs or clothing through which pupils ostensibly show a religious affiliation,' now the memo has been circulated specifying how the law will be applied in institution." While this is still only a working text, it seems to make clear that Islamic bandanas will not be allowed, and that the State, not the French Council on Muslim Culte nor the regional councils, will function as mediator in matters arising from the law.
22-28 May 2004:
-- Meanwhile, back at Front national headquarters, all is not rosy, due to the upcoming European elections and the attribution of candidate positions for FN members. Jean-Marie Le Pen gave the number two spots on the various lists of candidates to candidates with personal, even family ties (e.g. his daughter) rather than to other, less connected party members. So several of these members have contested the decisions, showing uncommon discord (or at least not seen since the schism in the FN in 1999).
-- The other big issue, as in the USA, is "gay marriages" as well as the creation of rights for adoption for gays, which is creating problems within the major Left party, the Socialists. For example, one Socialist leader, François Hollande favors both the marriage rights and adoption rights, whereas his partner (female) Ségolène Royal, is much less in favor, defending "the family and parental authority." More to come on this issue.
29 May-4 June 04
-- On the issue of gay marriages, the Socialist former Prime Minister (defeated in the April 2002 first round of elections) Lionel Jospin has stated his reticence to endorse gay marriages, and thus has marked out a distinct position within his party, more centrist (if not conservative, at least on this issue). Among other points he makes in the weekly Le Journal de Dimanche, is that in opposition to the "right to children" demanded by gays through marriage, he poses the "rights of the children," stating: "We are in a period in which the crises of institutions, of the State, of schools, of churches, of the family, and the loss of stability as a result, are all being constantly emphasizes . . . Marriage is, in its principle and as an institution, the 'union of a man and a woman', a definition that is not randomly decided. It refers not initially to a sexual inclination, but to the duality of sexes that characterizes our existence and which is the condition of procreation and thus of the continuation of humanity." So he concludes that instead of marriage, people can have recourse to celibacy, to shared living and, henceforth, to the civil pacts (PACS) that his government put into place in the 1990s: "We can respect the amorous preference of everyone without automatically institutionalizing moral preferences (les moeurs)."
In his moderation, Jospin positions himself with other Sociality party members (Elisabeth Guigou, Martine Aubry, and Ségolène Royal) in distinction to the other Socialists, such as Dominique Strauss-Kahh who have placed the Socialist Party officially in favor of gay marriages. Hence, this issue looks more and more like a position for partisan struggle within and between the parties, left, center, and right, as well as an important social issue.
-- On the work front, the French have their 35 hour work week, but seem to find it too cumbersome… to work less! That is, there are negative effects of the work week (since rather than hire more workers to make up for the missing 5 hours, the tendency is simply to force work to be done within the 35 hours without lowering unemployment). Jean-Pierre Raffarin, however, is not planning a reform of this law, but rather will be calling a meeting for September to discuss the issue with various constituencies, including the conservative Reform movement.
5 June-11 June 04
-- Back with the Front National, the party is trying to lower the perception of its internal fighting in the wake of the constitution of electoral lists for the European Union elections. So there is not schism as in 1998. Still, a number of FN members want to challenge Jean-Marie Le Pen for leadership of the party since he appears to favorable to a small coterie of favorites, including his family members and close family friends. All is not happy in the valley of the extreme right.
-- In anticipation of the elections for the European Union, some key points: 78 French deputies will be elected to the European Parlement. In order to do this, France is divided into the following "circonscriptions" (or regions): Ile-de France (Paris region, 14 to be elected), North (12), East (10), South-East (13), Midi (center south, 10), Great West (10), Loire-Massif Central (center, 6), Overseas (3). The electoral campaign now under day will go until midnight June 11-12. The means of voting is proportionally based, so a degree in rocket physics seems required to figure out how someone from one region can get elected in contrast to someone from another region. In any case, all the parties (41 one of them!) - from extreme right to extreme left - have placed candidates on lists, 1716 men and the same number of women!
-- Not exactly related to gay marriages, but at least to gay culture in Europe: "The homosexual TV network from the Viacom group is on track. Baptised Logo, it should appear 17 February 2005, targeting the homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual public. The network will be distributed digitally by cable and by satellite in the USA. Its production was confided to Tom Freston, the MTV boss (a subgroup of Viacom). The New York antenna of Time Warner Cable and the Adelphia communications group in Los Angeles are committed to including Logo network in their group of stations."
12-18 June 2004
-- On the European Union elections, all the experts, including
Jacques Chirac, are concerning about continued low voter turnout,
indifference to the European Union process, especially with 732
total number of deputies to be elected from across the enlarged
EU. And for France, there will be 78 deputies in this enlarged
group, but the French people seem not to consider the EU as its
focal point for political power and social change. This is understandable,
given the French focus on the power of l'État first, over
any kind of control by a super-power (in the sense of being over
the State autonomy), over any kind of control by a super-power
(in the sense of being over the State autonomy).
19-25 June 2004
-- More on the EU elections: the outcome is that the right remains
in the majority in the European Parliament, in all countries except
Luxembourg, Spain, and Greece, and also France. But overall, only
44.6% of the 350 million eligible voters turned out in the 25
member states. Moreover, it would appear that 10 of the new members
countries, only in the Union a year, are now no longer interested
in participation. The conclusion being drawn from these elections
is that the voters who did go to the polls did so as a way of
stating their skepticism, if not outright disapproval, in the
EU, not voting for, but against it. In France, oddly enough, although
on 43% of voters went to the polls, they favored ths Socialists
(28%) with the current majority well behind (16%) and the Front
national still present (9%), and the Communist Party going lower
still (5%). This is definitely an item to watch.
26 June-2 July 2004
-- On the gay marriage front, the Minister of the Interior has
sanctioned the mayor of Bègles, Noël Mamère,
for performing France's first "homosexual marriage"
on June 5, 2004. The sanction is suspension of his duties as mayor
for a month (which could work well with his vacation plans, or
just let him start them earlier!!). Since a mayor in performing
marriages in France is under the authority of the French government
system, Mamère was supposed to have respected national
rules, rather than taking a local initiative. However, Mamère
intends to fight the sanction by appealing to the administrative
tribunal to annul the order, and thus begins the legal battle
over gay marriages.
3-9 July 2004
-- More on gay marriages: The government - meaning the Prime Minister
Raffarin as official representative of the constituted ministerial
regime - has accepted to debate "homosexual marriage and
adoption [of children] by same sex couples." To do this,
there will be a commission named by the government in consultation
with various French gay groups to open formal discussion in the
issues. This position in no way changes the government's opposition
to the aforementioned wild-cat initiative by Noël Mamère,
but the government is trying to appear open to the questions being
raised. No timetable has been set for organizing this commission.
-- On a related issue, a law has been proposed officially opposing
homophobic and sexist discrimination, a proposal encouraged by
the French President Jacques Chirac. This law actually revises
an 1881 law on the freedom of the press, increasing penalties
from defamation of character due to homophobic statements. Included
are statements directly or indirectly inciting violence against
women as well as against gay men and women. However, gay groups
are not entirely happy with the text of the law because it does
not go far enough, only including provocations toward sexist discrimination,
hate crimes or violence in the penal aspect of the law.
10-16 July 2004
-- Whoa! Big question on the front page of France-Amérique: "what does it mean to be French?" The problem here is that France finds itself pressured, on one hand, by the European Union, that is, in giving ups its national autonomy in many areas (especially in terms of budget, since each member of the EU is judged, regularly, and penalized, on the basis of its national deficits; and on the other hand, by the growing movement of globalization, that is, France as a player in a huge global game on all fronts - social, economic, cultural, political. All of this doubt and uncertainty among the French must be situated within the broader framework of its glorious past: not just the past of the Ancien Régime, of Louis XIV, Versailles, the philosophes, etc., but the more recent past of Charles de Gaulle and his vision of France as a leading world power. As one commentator points out, the French are basically schizophrenic: on one hand, they want equality (hence the overthrow of the monarchy for an eventual Republic - five of them since 1792!), but they also want privilege and individualism. One great comment comes from Pierre Daninos (a French novelist of the early twentieth century): If you add 10 French citizens to 10 others, you do not create an addition, but rather 20 divisions!
-- The question of the thirty-five hour work week has now been thrown into the political discussion by the current government, specifically by minister of finances, Nicholas Sarkozy. The government sees a need to revise (reform as they say in France) the current structure in which the government is expected to compensate (in some complicated manner that I do not understand) firms who have employees working 35 hours per week. Sarkozy has floated the possibility of two systems - one in which employees can opt for the 35-hour week, but a second for people wanting to work more, both of which employees could select depending on their interests. However, there is a political dimension within this debate: the 35-hour week is associated with the Left (since it was initiated under the Socialist President François Mitterand) and with leftist social causes; hence, Sarkozy comes off for the right-wing constituencies as being a champion of more conservative fiscal, social and political solutions - positioning himself in contrast/relation to the current Prime Minister Raffarin for upcoming national elections.
17-23 July
-- Following up on the previous item, Sarkozy went on television
for an interview shortly before the 14th of July (the French 4th
of July, commemorating the Bastille's fall during the revolution),
and proceeded to overstep his bounds as a minister while discussing
the 35 hour work week initiative. He was to speak on this initiative,
but got off topic, and pronounced on several others, showing already
his intentions to run for higher office, even carefully throwing
criticism at the Raffarin, the current Prime Minister. Raffarin
responded with his own criticisms of activities and lack of rigor
at the ministry of the Economy that Sarkozy runs. More to come,
no doubt.
24-30 July
-- So this is Jacques Chirac's week to bounce back and shake a
few things up, on the one hand regarding the European Union (and
France's role in it), on the other hand, regarding the 35 hour
work week.
a) On the EU front, Chirac has decided that France will have a
referendum to decide on ratifying the EU constitution, and this
is a way to smash the question tennis-style back into the court
of the Socialist Party which is divided on the EU issue. Chirac
is playing a very canny political game because he does not plan
to schedule the referendum before the second half of 2005, i.e.
a year from now AND, more importantly, only 18 months before the
next Presidential election. However, this announcement of the
referendum actually satisfies most of the demands of political
parties across the spectrum. Chirac does, of course, run the risk
of NOT getting the necessary majority of votes in favor of ratification.
Hence, Chirac will be on the forefront of promoting this popular
ratification over the next year, knowing full well that this vote
will certainly be used by the opposition as a way to vote on Chirac's
presidency (and not solely on the issue of the EU constitution).
b) On the 35 hour work week front, Chirac has not provided a clear
statement of his positions. Rather his approach is "prudent":
in favor of revisions of the Aubry Law (that put the 35 hour work
week in place), he has stated three principles that need to be
followed: 1) no frontal attack on the 35 hours; 2) freedom for
workers, especially those who do wish to work more than 35 hours
to earn more; and 3) a certain flexibility regarding the law and
its rules needs to be introduced at the level of the businesses
themselves (the fuzziest of the principles!). In other words,
this is a politically ambiguous statement that lets Chirac move
in any number of directions following the subsequent developments
on the issue.