How Neo-Liberalism Has Transformed France's Symbolic Boundaries?

Abstract

French society has experienced dramatic social changes over the past decades, which have resulted in a significant reshuffling of its symbolic boundaries, moving the poor and ethno-racial minorities toward the periphery of the community of those worthy of recognition, protection, and assistance.* 1 As we move into the twenty-first century, the redrawing of the lines that divide this national community needs to be better understood, as it echoes profound changes found elsewhere in Europe. While an abundance of literature details some of these changes, this essay provides a bird’s-eye view of the recent transformations in the French case in the hope of inspiring more research on the inequalities and divisions at play in contemporary France. When writing about social transformation in France, social scientists often start with a diagnosis of French republicanism and other central cultural traditions, such as Catholicism and socialism. Even though these traditions enable different types of cultural identities and behaviors, scholars agree that all three currents contributed to producing symbolic boundary patterns where internal ethno-racial differences and poverty were downplayed as principles of division. 2 Following a specific interpretation of the central tenets of liberalism, French republicanism has traditionally awarded citizens equal rights as a result of which they entered into a covenant with the state, whose role is to define and promote the common good and insure universalism by downplaying ethno-racial and religious differences between citizens. 3 Until quite recently, the fusion of this liberal republican ideology with the Marxian rhetoric of class warfare also encouraged French workers to downplay divi