This book provides timely assessment of the extent to which Emmanuel Macron's declared presidential goal - to bring in radical transformation of French politics, indeed a revolution, albeit a democratic one - has been achieved.

This analysis of his presidency provides a framework for reflection on 'immobilism' in French politics, and how enduring transformation has remained much more elusive to most of those who promised it. With a wide a range of underlying, seemingly intractable and unresolved structural issues dominating French society, the book asks whether the young 'disrupter' has succeeded in reforming France where others had failed. What can we be learnt about the processes of political change from analysing Macron's successes and failures in working through his ambitions for France?

This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and followers of French politics/studies and society, gender studies, media studies and more broadly European studies.

About the Author

Susan Collard is Senior Lecturer in French Politics and Contemporary European Studies at the Sussex Centre for Migration Research, University of Sussex, UK.

Reviews

"Collard's volume analyses the challenges facing the Emmanuel Macron presidency in France. Over and above this, it shows us the opportunities and pitfalls of political leadership in a complex modern democracy."

John Gaffney, Aston University, UK.

"Dr Collard has compiled an impressive range of scholarship to offer comprehensive and original insights into the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, illuminating the intractable difficulties of effecting political change in France."

Helen Drake, Loughborough University London, UK.

"Sue Collard has done a wonderful job in pulling together this collection on Emmanuel Macron, a deeply paradoxical President, whose disruptive instincts contributed to leaving the country in an unprecedented state of institutional and political crisis. The volume is replete with paradoxes (of the monarchical-populist who damaged his own authority by an ill-considered dissolution), counter-intuitive insights (the participatory reformer who undermined civil society) and unintended consequences (the self-styled slayer of the extremes who assisted in mainstreaming the rightwards shift in immigration and security). The individual chapters provide keys to unlocking and understanding these tensions. I strongly recommend this book."

Alistair Cole, Sciences Po Lyon, France, and Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong.

Book Information
ISBN 9781032346618
Author Susan Collard
Format Paperback
Page Count 308
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd