Book Review: Débat Sur La France De Demain
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206301800135 |
| Date | 01 March 1963 |
| Published date | 01 March 1963 |
| Author | S. Mack Eastman |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
126
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
society
in
full
revolution.
"No
domain,"
M.
Bourdieu,
a
most knowledge-
able
and
fair-minded
sociologist,
states,
"has
been
spared. The
pillars
of
the
traditional
order
have
been
shaken
or
overthrown
by
the
colonial
situation
and
the
war."
What
he
does
here
is
to
outline
the
peoples
and
the
old societies which
made
up
the
pre-colonial
and
pre-war
Algeria,
carefully
dissecting
the
tribal
patterns
of
the
Shawia,
the
Mozabites,
and
the
loosely-grouped
Arabic-speaking
peoples.
As
an
introduction
to
complex
social
patterns, the
chapters
given
to
all
this
could
hardly
be
improved.
His
conclusion
is
that
this
society achieved
"the
highest
degree
of
equilibrium compatible
with
the
limited
techniques
at
its
disposal,"
and
an integration
"in
inverse
proportion
to
its
precarious
and
uncertain
adjustment
to
the
natural
world".
Then came
the
colonial
system
after
1830,
and
disintegration
and
distress
followed.
M.
Bourdieu's
susbstantial
contribution
is
to
show
that
the
rebellion
was
brought
about
not
by
mere
hatred
and
the
cult
of
violence
on
the
part
of
a
small minority,
but
by
the
objective
nature
of
the
Algerian
drama,
the
widening
gap
between
the
European
caste
and
the
native
population.
Two
civilizations were
in
conflict,
he
says
forthrightly,
and
the
oft-cited
fraternization
of
peoples
on
May
13
and
after
were
"mere
attempts
at
mystification"
or
"staged
demonstrations".
This
excellent
little
book,
compactly
written,
smoothly
translated,
contains
one
of the
most
convincing
explanations
of
the
great
rebellion
we
have. But
in
addition
it
offers
a
coherent,
calm,
intelligent
account
of
a
society
torn
from
its
historic roots, facing
a
present
and
future
it
is
hardly
fitted
to
grapple
with. "Like
some
infernal
machine,
the
war
has
made
a
clean
sweep of
the
social
realities,
grinding
up
and
scatter-
ing
to
the
four
winds
the
traditional
communities
of
the
village,
clan
or
family."
It
is
the
final conclusion
here
that
so
violent
a
laceration
of
the
societal
pattern
presents
only
two
alternatives:
chaos
or
some
original
form
of
socialism
specially
devised
to
meet the
needs
of
the
Algerians.
And
it
will
be
of
interest
to
measure
the
programme
of
the
Ben
Bella
r~gime
against
this
prescription.
Originally
published
in
1958
in
the
far-ranging
Que
sais-je?
series,
M.
Bourdieu's
book
is
a
far
more expensive
item
in
translation,
but
worth
every
penny
of
the
price.
University
of Toronto
JOHN
C.
CAIRNS
DJfBAT
SUR
LA
FRANCE
DE
DEMAIN.
Le
Manifeste
des
Cinq
et
les
Com-
mentaires
des
Cent.
By
Jacques
Rigaud.
1961.
(Paris:
Rene
Julliard.
246pp.
10.80NF)
The
possible
importance
of
this
high-minded
and
courteous
debate
may have
been
diminished
by
the
outbreak
of
full-scale
political
war-
fare
between
President
de
Gaulle
and
the
old
political
parties.
However,
if,
after
the
Gaullist
victory
of
November
18
and
25,
the
noise
of
battle
dies down,
and
the
enlightened
authors
of
the
Manifeste
press
their
campaign,
it
may still
prove
stimulating
for
the
politically
conscious.
This
small
volume
contains
a
set
of
challenging
proposals
by
a
group
of
five,
followed
by
an
analysis
of
commentaries
received
from
members
of
the
political,
intellectual,
administrative
and
Industrial
To continue reading
Request your trial