Policies aimed at achieving parity, affirmative action measures, establishing time offices to harmonize working hours, reversing the burden of proof in cases of discrimination, ensuring equal access to public spaces... the French Republic is undeniably undergoing tremendous change. These changes have nonetheless been met with strong ideological opposition. Largely voiced by minority groups, such demands for change are often accused of being particularistic. Republican universalism must remain intact — even if that means that 'for things to remain the same, everything must change', to quote Tancredi.
The authors of this volume have wagered on the complete opposite, choosing instead to study the conditions that would allow these new public action mechanisms to be expanded and scaled up.
Drawing on the work of politician and sociologist Françoise Gaspard, a key player in these civic metamorphoses, this volume illustrates how the Republic is not merely a principle of government: it is the very idea being challenged by such new policies. Consequently, and paradoxically, it thus also becomes a possible avenue for transforming the law.