France Au XXIe Siècle

Book excerpt: The twenty-first century is now underway, and it's time to look at France once again as it moves into the new millennium. The current collection of essays explores cultural themes which are different than those in the editors' earlier volume, La France à l'aube du XXIe siècle: Tendances et mutations / France at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: Trends and Transformations, published in 2000 (Summa Publications; see Google Book Seach on home page). Among the topics explored in this new volume are the presidential election of 2007, changing dietary habits, the condition of women, environmental policies, the economy, education, social mobility, young people, religion, as well as contemporary music, cinema, regional theater, and literature. Articles on multiculturalism, the position of French in today's world, and France in the European Union also provide the reader with provocative insights. All chapters include extensive references (and web sites) and will be of interest to academics, teachers and students of contemporary French culture, and all Francophiles. For the classroom teacher, additional cultural information and activities will be found on the editors' own home page; this material will be updated on a regular basis, thus facilitating the task of presenting a modern-day France that is continuously changing. - Publisher.