Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's prison sentence is reverberating across France, raising questions about public trust, political accountability and the enduring tensions between the country's ideals and its realities.
"The rule of law has been reaffirmed in France with the corruption conviction and imprisonment of Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president best known for his law and order platform," said Julie Fette.
Fette, an associate professor of French studies at Rice University and an interdisciplinary historian of modern French society, can speak to the deeper social and political implications of Sarkozy's sentencing. Her research spans issues of gender, race and citizenship in France, including how elites and institutions have shaped - and been shaped by - the nation's values.
"With the seventh largest economy in the world, its central role in the European Union and its immense cultural capital, France matters a great deal to Americans," Fette said. "It is a modern democratic society whose different ways of defining freedom and equality provide a useful mirror to the U.S."
Fette is the author of "Gender by the Book," which examines representations of gender in contemporary French children's literature, and "Exclusions," a study of how prejudice shaped professional life between the World Wars. She serves on the editorial boards of French Politics, Culture & Society and Contemporary French Civilization and was recently promoted by the French government as Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes académiques. Fette is currently teaching courses on French society and language at the Rice Global Paris Center.
From the evolving role of women and immigrants in French society to growing distrust in political institutions, Fette brings historical depth and cultural insight to understanding how France's social fabric continues to change and what that reveals about the nation's enduring pursuit of equality.
