Social Change in Modern France Towards a Cultural Anthropology of the Fifth Republic

Concerned with the radical transformations that have taken place within French society since the mid-twentieth century.

Social Change in Modern France is concerned with the radical transformations which have taken place within French society since the mid-twentieth century. The authors contended that these changes constitute a revolution in French affairs as important as that of 1789. From the late 1950s onwards, the traditional social structures of the Third Republic have been transformed: peasantry and bourgeoisie have disappeared or mutated; the great national institutions of church, army, trade unions and schools have declined or severely weakened, and a late and rapid industrialisation has wrought profound economic changes. Even the French Communist Party has become a virtual irrelevance. All these institutions, so characteristic of French society throughout the Third Republic, have now ceased to be the object of major conflicts and tensions. In their stead local institutions, voluntary associations and the family have acquired a renewed strength and serve as the basic network for social relations and social life.

Preface; Introduction; Part I. The Breaking-Up of Traditional Class Structures: 1. The bourgeois, the workers and the peasants; 2. The transformation of the social classes: the triumph of the central constellation; Part II. The De-Mystification of the Great National Institutions: 3. The army and the church; 4. Working-class institutions; 5. The national education system; 6. The new national consensus; 7. A village democracy; Part III. The Stages of Life: 8. The strength of kinship; 9. Men and women; 10. Young and old; Part IV. A New Civilisation: 11. Changing lifestyles; 12. The cultural explosion; 13. A moral revolution?; Bibliography; Index.

Social Change in Modern France is concerned with the radical transformations that have taken place within French society since the mid-twentieth century. The authors contend that these changes constitute a revolution in French affairs as important as that of 1789. Traditional social structures have been transformed and there is a new basis for social relations and social life.