Marzia Maccaferri is Research Fellow in Contemporary History at the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Studies at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

Texte du rabat

Analyzing the international political discourse developed by French and British intellectuals and the wider public debate they prompted during the Cold War, this book addresses how the public sphere reacted and adapted to rapidly changing historical circumstances, and how intellectuals responded to a new and challenging relationship between national and foreign policy within a global context.

Résumé

Between the end of WWII and the end of the Cold War, the international roles of France and Great Britain changed dramatically. Major international powers were now states much bigger than European nations in terms of population, wealth, military capacity. Analyzing the international political discourse developed by French and British intellectuals and the wider public debate they prompted during the Cold War, this book addresses how the public sphere reacted and adapted to rapidly changing historical circumstances, and how intellectuals responded to a new and challenging relationship between national and foreign policy within a global context.

Contenu

Introduction: The Rise of Intellectuals and the Decline of NationsI. From the End of World War Two to the Suez Crisis

1. France as Torchbearer of Human Ideals

2. British Intellectuals: No Turning BackII. The Long Sixties: a New Europe after Suez, Threat or Opportunity?

3. France between Charles de Gaulle and May '68

4. Decline and Declinism as a New Public Identity in Britain

III. "Waiting for Godot": Rethinking the Nation

5. A No Longer "Universal" France

6. Still Seeking a Role

IV. The Eighties: A New Frame for a New Cold War

7. Reinventing the Role of France

8. The (Hard) Road to Renewal: Intellectuals and the "Glamour" of Dissent