In August 1999 a forty-six-year-old sheep farmer name Jose Bove was arrested for dismantling the construction site of a new McDonald's restaurant in the south of France. A few months later Bove built on his fame by smuggling huge chunks of Roquefort cheese into Seattle, where he was among the leaders of the antiglobalization protests against the World Trade Organization summit. Bove's crusade against globalization helped provoke a debate both within France and beyond about the pros and cons of a world in which financial, commercial, human, cultural, and technology flows move faster and more extensively than ever before. As the French struggle to preserve the country's identity, heritage, and distinctiveness, they are nonetheless adapting to a new economy and an interdependent world. This book deals with France's effort to adapt to globalization and its consequences for France's economy, cultural identity, domestic politics, and foreign relations. The authors begin by analyzing the structural transformation of the French economy, driven first by liberalization within the European Union and more recently by globalization. By examining a wide variety of possible measures of globalization and liberalization, the authors conclude that the French economy's adaptation has been far reaching and largely successful, even if French leaders prefer to downplay the extent of these changes in response to political pressures and public opinion. They call this adaptation ""globalization by stealth."" The authors also examine the relationship between trade, culture, and identity and explain why globalization has rendered the three inseparable. They show how globalization is contributing to the restructuring of the traditional French political spectrum and blurring the traditional differences between left and right. Finally, they explore France's effort to tame globalization -maitriser la mondialisation -and the possible consequences and lessons of the French stance for the rest of the world.
Philip H. Gordon is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution and director of the Brookings Center on the United States and France. He is a former director for European Affairs at the National Security Council. Sophie Meunier is a research fellow at the Princeton University Center of International Studies.
"This is a terrific book, especially for those of us who were wondering how France manages to thrive in the very global economy it denounces. A fine and sympathetic study of the real changes in the French economy and the gap between rhetoric and reality, it is also a useful corrective to American triumphalism. " --Paul R. Krugman, Princeton University "The challenge of globalization is particularly complex in France, where tradition, culture, and a strong sense of national identity clash with the realities of market liberalization. Gordon and Meunier provide a nuanced portrait that reveals the myriad factors underlying the country's efforts --often more successful than most outsiders realize --to adapt to life in an ever more integrated world. " --Felix G. Rohatyn, U.S. Ambassador to France, 1997 -2000 "This is a terrific book, especially for those of us who were wondering how France manages to thrive in the very global economy it denounces. A fine and sympathetic study of the real changes in the French economy and the gap between rhetoric and reality, it is also a useful corrective to American triumphalism. " --Paul R. Krugman, Princeton University, author of Fuzzy Math
"Rarely has such a clear book been written about the big issue of the day in France. Avoiding the usual stereotypes and polemics, Gordon and Meunier pulverize a number of cliches, beginning with that of a France incapable of adapting to globalization." Pascal Riche, Liberation |"The authors have done a fine job of undermining American cliches about present-day France both by explaining the historical and intellectual roots of French resistance to globalization and by showing how successful France has been in adapting to its challenges without thereby becoming Americanized." Stanley Hoffmann, Buttenwieser University Professor, Harvard University |"Anyone wanting a primer on contemporary France or an intelligent exegesis of the Franco-American dynamic will find The French Challenge a lively read." Celia Whitaker, Foreign Affairs |"This little gem of a book is a model of scholarship. It is well conceived and executed, full of relevant facts, and studded with excellent quotations. Its American and French coauthors, Philip H. Gordon and Sophie Meunier, aim to be comprehensive, objective, and balanced, and they succeed.... Gordon and Meunier have done France, and us, a service by so ably presenting [the French] case and its reality to the world." Paul Seaton, Fordham University, Perspectives on Political Science |"This little gem of a book is a model of scholarship. It is well conceived and executed, full of relevant facts, and studded with interesting quotations. Its American and French coauthors, Philip H. Gordon and Sophie Meunier, aim to be comprehensive, objective, and balanced, and they succeed. Gordon and Meunier have done France, and us, a service by so ably presenting its case and its reality to the world." Paul Seaton, Fordham University, Perspectives on Political Science |"Phillip Gordon and Sophie Meunier have produced a short but comprehensive guide to the major issues confronting France in its struggle to cope with the dynamics of globalization." David L. Cleeton, Oberlin College and College of Europe, Modern and Contemporary France |"It's no wonder that the French translation of the book has won awards (Notably the 2002 France-Amerique prize) and widespread praise....[Godon and Meunier's] brief book is an outstanding evaluation of French realities, as opposed to French rhetorical flourishes." Regina Karp, Old Dominion University, Contemporary Security Policy |"This is a terrific book, especially for those of us who were wondering how France manages to thrive in the very global economy it denounces. A fine and sympathetic study of the real changes in the French economy and the gap between rhetoric and reality, it is also a useful corrective to American triumphalism." Paul R. Krugman, Princeton University |"The challenge of globalization is particularly complex in France, where tradition, culture, and a strong sense of national identity clash with the realities of market liberalization. Gordon and Meunier provide a nuanced portrait that reveals the myriad factors underlying the country's efforts often more successful than most outsiders realize to adapt to life in an ever more integrated world." Felix G. Rohatyn, U.S. Ambassador to France, 1997 -2000 |"This is a terrific book, especially for those of us who were wondering how France manages to thrive in the very global economy it denounces. A fine and sympathetic study of the real changes in the French economy and the gap between rhetoric and reality, it is also a useful corrective to American triumphalism." Paul R. Krugman, Princeton University, author of Fuzzy Math
