World News: France Confronts Defining Social Crisis

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Category: World News - Europe

Published on Wednesday, 29 November 2023 14:26

Written by Olivier Longhi

Torn by social tensions of various origins, France is going through a deep crisis of confidence in its founding model at the risk of seeing the social contract that underlies the notion of living together broken.

To say that France is now in the grip of worrying tensions is an understatement. As two blocs of extremists with resentment and hatred and each other stand face to face, the country is slowly but surely sinking into a social crisis, the extent and consequences of which are difficult to measure.

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At the same time, the crisis is fueled by the inertia of political discourse that is either vain and sterile, or tinged with radicalism, and spares no segment of society.

From the economy to the educational, the entire country was affected by this slump, which led to a form of disintegration of the principles that had hitherto supported French society. Some would speak of a change of model, influenced by the winds of history that push each civilization to espouse new tacit rules, while others see it as the collapse of a model that is now at the end of its capacity.

Both options should not be dismissed out of hand, nor can they be fully accepted. And it will be up to each person to choose the one that suits them, if one of them suits them.

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Deep Forces

However, one reality is clear: the first manifestations of these tensions are the resurgence of verbal and physical violence of all kinds, starting with anti-Semitic acts, which are clearly increasing in 2023 compared to previous years (More than 1518 acts recorded since October 7 - data from November 15, 2023).

Without crystallizing the debate around this question alone, it nevertheless appears that this type of violence also characterizes the dark passions, the deep forces as described by the historian Pierre Renouvin to give substance to these groundswells coming from the bowels of French society. This feeling of ambient malaise fed by political mediocrity, institutionalized superficiality, and social networks that are veritable reservoirs of hatred thus tends to eat away at a society that can no longer hide its fractures.

Does this mean that the social contract dear to Rousseau, the cornerstone of living together, has been broken? Here again, it is up to each individual to judge, but it is clear that the collective vision of the destiny of the nation has given way to an amalgam of individual interests tending to the exclusion of those who do not adhere to it. A typical example of this disintegration and the breakdown of the social contract is the crisis experienced by the school.

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Pharmacy

There is no need here to go over the sum of the problems that overwhelm and weaken it, but let us ask a simple question. Is it still respected as it was?

Having become an agency for many students and parents, the one that should have been preserved and considered as the guardian of the temple of republican keys, has been flouted, sold to the easy way out for the purposes of social peace, selling off the mother notion of meritocracy in favor of frenzied indifference and egalitarianism.

The result is a downgraded, not to say degraded, institution that has lost all its legitimacy, whereas this same legitimacy would have made it possible to fight against this feeling of unease by reinforcing the idea of belonging to the Republic. Abandoned, competing with social networks with their easy and seductive content, the school had to give up by levelling its demands down, overwhelmed by a triumphant egalitarianism.

For the time being, only the observation of a fractured society prevails. However, the potion is likely to be more bitter when it comes time to deal with the consequences of the fractures in question.

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Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.