French Cultural Policy and the American Mirror in the Sarkozy Era

Abstract

Although culture is not at the heart of the policy agenda of the current French administration, it will likely be affected by the Sarkozy revolution. French culture seems to be in a state of crisis, as evidenced both by the end of its ‘rayonnement’ outside of France and by its diminutive focus on the producers instead of the consumers of cultural goods. The options available for reform can, paradoxically given France's history of policy opposition to American culture, be inspired by what is done in the United States, as is suggested by Frederic Martel's 2006 book De la Culture en Amerique. A reform of French cultural policy would have implications both for foreign and for domestic policies.