The Middle Classes and Politics in Contemporary France: a Bibliographic Introduction
Abstract
The 'middle classes' are at the centre of today's political debates. Jean Royer's candidacy in the 1974 presidential election was aimed at them, 'the heart of France' (cf. Bellaiche et al., 1975). Valéry Giscard d'Estaing appealed to them at the beginning of his term of office, praising in Démocratie Française 'the great central group' destined to lead France towards 'the advanced liberal democratic society' (69). Just before the 1978 legislative elections, several middle-class movements sprang up, sponsored by Giscardiens and Gaullists hoping to prevent a Left victory. At the same time the Communist Party was trying to align, if not senior business managers, then at least the 'intermediate salaried strata' alongside the working class in the Union du Peuple de France (77, 71), while the Socialist Party was urging them to join its Front de classe (57, 76). Among the innumerable books and articles that have been written about the middle classes in France, we have selected only a few major works in order to review the political choices of the social categories that supposedly belong to these classes. [Article's first paragraph]
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