Globalization and French Cultural Identity

The nature of the French economy has changed radically in recent years. Breaking with its mercantilist and dirigiste past, France has since the early 1980s converted to market liberalization, both as the necessary by-product of European integration and globalization and as a deliberate effort by policymakers. Whereas the French state used to own large sectors of the economy, partly to keep them from foreign control, now even a Socialist-led government proceeds with privatization, with scant regard for the nationality of the buyer. French companies themselves have also been adapting to globalization, largely through a wave of international mergers and acquisitions over which the once all-powerful state has had little influence. France’s adaptation to the global world economy is finally paying off in terms of performance, which is now arguably better than it has been since the 1960s. It seems that for many in France, the loss of state control and growing inequalities that result from globalization may be a price worth paying for increased prosperity and jobs. Indeed, it is fair to say that where the economy is concerned, France has been quietly, steadily, and highly effectively adapting to globalization.1 Yet this is not the image that one usually associates with the French reaction to globalization. Instead of France’s remarkable adaptation, most observers have focused on France’s resistance to globalization—above all symbolized by the actions of the sheep farmer José Bové, who in August 1999 dismantled a McDonald’s restaurant to protest against US sanctions, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and globalization in general. France, of course, is hardly the only country worried about the consequences of globalization, and the street