dinsdag 9 februari 2021

Will American Ideas Tear France Apart?

 

Will American Ideas Tear France Apart? Some of Its Leaders Think So

Politicians and prominent intellectuals say social theories from the United States on race, gender and post-colonialism are a threat to French identity and the French republic.

A demonstration against racism and police brutality in Paris last year. Protests across France were inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.
Credit...Mohammed Badra/EPA, via Shutterstock

PARIS — The threat is said to be existential. It fuels secessionism. Gnaws at national unity. Abets Islamism. Attacks France’s intellectual and cultural heritage.

The threat? “Certain social science theories entirely imported from the United States,’’ said President Emmanuel Macron.

French politicians, high-profile intellectuals and journalists are warning that progressive American ideas — specifically on race, gender, post-colonialism — are undermining their society. “There’s a battle to wage against an intellectual matrix from American universities,’’ warned Mr. Macron’s education minister.

Emboldened by these comments, prominent intellectuals have banded together against what they regard as contamination by the out-of-control woke leftism of American campuses and its attendant cancel culture.


Further Reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/world/europe/france-threat-american-universities.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage



Geen opmerkingen:

Pankaj Mishra: The Shoah after Gaza