The notion of French exceptionalism is deeply embedded in the nation's self-image and in a range of political and academic discourses. Recently, the debate about whether France really is "exceptional" has acquired a critical edge.

Foreword List of Abbreviations Introduction PART I: PROBLEMATISING EXCEPTIONALISM Chapter 1. France and Exceptionalism Nick Hewlett Chapter 2. Exceptionalism and Universalism: The Uneasy Alliance in the French-speaking World Margaret A. Majumdar Chapter 3. The Elusive French Exception Sue Collard PART II: EXCEPTIONALISM IN POLITICS AND POLICY Chapter 4. French Communism: An Exceptional Orthodoxy David S. Bell Chapter 5. Does it Make Sense to Treat the Front National as a ‘French Exception’? Emmanuel Godin Chapter 6. The French Administrative Exception: Change and Resistance Anne Stevens Chapter 7. French Industrial Relations – Still Exceptional? Nick Parsons Chapter 8. The French Socialists, Dirigisme and the Troubled Europeanisation of Employment Policy Ben Clift Chapter 9. French Foreign and Defence Policy: Exceptional in Methods and Rhetoric? Janet Bryant PART III: EXCEPTIONALISM IN FRENCH CULTURE, THE MEDIA AND SPORT Chapter 10. Presidential Debates in France: An Example of Americanisation? Sheila Perry Chapter 11. The Myth of Exceptionalism? French Television in a West European Context Raymond Kuhn Chapter 12. Cultural Exception(s) in French Cinema Brigitte Rollet Chapter 13. Sport and Politics: Another French Exception Patrick Mignon Chapter 14. French Intellectuals: the Legendary Exception Michael Kelly Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index

"[A] thorough cut at the notion of French exceptionalism, and it should be useful for French specialists as well as scholars of other areas who wish to study France in comparative perspective." H-France