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French Universalism in the Nineties

French Universalism in the Nineties French politics in the 1990s was full of debates about universalism. Whatever the issue—citizenship for North African immigrants, greater access to political office for women, or domestic partnership for homosexual couples (to take only the most prominent)—its proponents and Copyright 2004 by Brown University and d i f f e r e n c e s : A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 15:2 d i f f e r e n c e s critics framed their arguments as critiques of, appeals to, or defenses of a universalism thought to be distinctively French. And not just French, but republican. Universalism was taken to be the defi ning trait of the French republic, its most enduring value, its most precious asset. To accuse someone of betraying universalism was tantamount to accusing them of treason. It is important to note that the debates about universalism in the 1990s were not confi ned (as they were in that period in the u.s.) to lofty academic circles or arcane theoretical texts. They were instead at the very center of politics: they resounded in the National Assembly and fi lled the pages of daily newspapers. Nor was universalism just a slogan; it http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies Duke University Press

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References (36)

Publisher
Duke University Press
Copyright
Copyright 2004 by Brown University and differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies
ISSN
1040-7391
eISSN
1527-1986
DOI
10.1215/10407391-15-2-32
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

French politics in the 1990s was full of debates about universalism. Whatever the issue—citizenship for North African immigrants, greater access to political office for women, or domestic partnership for homosexual couples (to take only the most prominent)—its proponents and Copyright 2004 by Brown University and d i f f e r e n c e s : A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 15:2 d i f f e r e n c e s critics framed their arguments as critiques of, appeals to, or defenses of a universalism thought to be distinctively French. And not just French, but republican. Universalism was taken to be the defi ning trait of the French republic, its most enduring value, its most precious asset. To accuse someone of betraying universalism was tantamount to accusing them of treason. It is important to note that the debates about universalism in the 1990s were not confi ned (as they were in that period in the u.s.) to lofty academic circles or arcane theoretical texts. They were instead at the very center of politics: they resounded in the National Assembly and fi lled the pages of daily newspapers. Nor was universalism just a slogan; it

Journal

differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural StudiesDuke University Press

Published: Jan 1, 2004

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