Department of Government & International Studies
EURO 2110
Contemporary European Societies I:
The French-Speaking Countries
Prerequisites:
EURO 1111-2 Europe: Unity and Diversity
Duration/Frequency:
3 hours/week
Language of Tuition:
English
Individual Study Time Required:
42 hours (3 X 14 weeks)
Credits/Units:
3
Number of Contact Hours:
42 (3 X 14 weeks)
Total Assumed Work Load:
6 hours/week
Course Description/Aims and Objectives:
This course will enable students to acquire a broad knowledge and
understanding of the main features of French-speaking countries of Europe
(France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland). It will prepare them for their
stay in Europe during Year III by training them to critically evaluate the social,
political, cultural and economic conditions in these countries. It will also help
them to elaborate the conceptual framework to be used when gathering
information in Europe for the final year Honours Project.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) / Competencies:
Knowledge
By the end of this course, students will be able to
1. Define the main historical, economic, social, political and cultural
features of French-speaking countries of Europe (France, Belgium,
Luxembourg and Switzerland); and
2. Explain how these multi-faceted components shaped the present-day
system of values and life of European French-speaking societies.
Skills
By the end of this course, students will be able to
3. Compare and discuss the development of the social, political, cultural
and economic context of the above-mentioned countries during
group/individual presentations;
4. Reflectively analyse this development in a wider European perspective;
and
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5.
Constitute the conceptual framework to be used when gathering data
during Year III in Europe in the perspective of the writing of the final year
Honours Project dissertation.
Attitudes
By the end of this course, students will be able to
6. Revise their perceptions of the European host society;
7. Successfully integrate into an academic environment in Europe in Year
III by referring to their newly acquired knowledge of systems of values of
French-speaking countries; and
8. Evaluate the acquired knowledge and skills when observing the daily
social, political, economic and cultural reality during their one-year stay
in a French-speaking country.
Course Content:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Introduction: the concept of “francophonie” and its relevance in the
European context
Switzerland – From the Eternal Bond of Brothers to the Confederatio
Helvetica
Switzerland – an illustration of multidimensional diversity
Switzerland – Government and politics: still a “special case”?
Belgium: the long way to federalism
Belgium – is there a Belgian nation? A heterogeneous national identity
Belgium - Government and politics: a unique example of federation?
Luxembourg – “We want to stay what we are” Specific features of a
micro-state
Luxembourg – Population & Economy
France – The building of the French nation
France – Territory, languages, religions and population
France – Evolution of socio-economic conditions
The French-speaking area of Europe in the European construction
process
Teaching & Learning Activities (TLAs):
TLAs
1. Seminars/ Lectures
The seminars will introduce basic concepts and perspectives on
the main historical, economic, social, political and cultural
features of French-speaking countries of Europe. All seminars
will be supplemented by guided reading and circulated
2
ILOs
addressed
1 to 8
materials.
2. Tutorial discussions/ Presentations
Tutorial sessions will be held to discuss theories and concepts
introduced in seminars and their applications
Students will make presentations on the development of the
social, political, cultural and economic context and then lead
small-group discussion stimulating students to analyse critically
about this development in a wider European perspective.
3 to 8
Assessment Methods (AMs):
AMs
Weighting
Active participation in
class discussions and
group presentations
15%
ILOs
addressed
1 to 8
Individual oral
presentations
25%
1 to 4, 6, 8
Written synthesis
20%
1 to 4, 6, 8
3
Description of
Assessment Tasks
Students must attend
all tutorials and try to
be punctual. All
students are
expected to read the
relevant readings
before the tutorials.
They should ask
questions, give
comments to the
presenters, and
participate in the
discussion.
Presentations in
individual will be held
by compiling and
systematically
organizing academic
and non-academic
information.
A written synthesis
on another topic will
be part of the
assessment.
Final examination
40%
1 to 4, 6, 8
The final
examination will
ascertain students’
ability to compose
an essay
incorporating a clear
thesis with a logical
progression to
support arguments,
as required in most
academic
programmes in
Europe
References:
N.B: Books in English about Luxemburg are very few. This is the reason why the
students are recommended to use Internet sources.
An updated list of useful links for this course is to be found on
http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~europe/french/htms/2110.htm
Switzerland
Basta L., Fleiner Th., Federalism and Multiethnic States – The case of
Switzerland, Institut du Fédéralisme. Fribourg, 1996.
Birmingham, D. Switzerland: a village history. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 2004.
Butler M., Pender M., Charnley J. The Making of Modern Switzerland, 1848-1998.
Palgrave, New York, 2000.
Charnley J., Pender M. (eds), Images of Switzerland: Challenges from the
Margins, Peter Lang, Bern, 1998.
Church, C., The Politics and Government of Switzerland, Palgrave MacMillan,
2004.
Church, C., Switzerland and the European Union - A Close, Contradictory and
Misunderstood Relationship. Routledge, 2007.
Dürmüller Urs, Changing Patterns of Multilingualism – From Quadrilingual to
Multilingual Switzerland, Pro Helvetia, Zürich, 1997.
Erk, J., Explaining Federalism: State, Society and Congruence in Austria,
Belgium, Canada, Germany and Switzerland. Routledge, 2007.
Fossedal G., Direct Democracy in Switzerland, Transaction Publishers, 2002.
Gabriel J. M. and Fischer Th. (Eds.), Swiss Foreign Policy, 1945-2002,
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
Gibbon E. The History of Democracy. Parasitic Ventures Press. 2008.
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Goetschel L., Bernath M., Schwarz D., Swiss Foreign Policy – Foundations and
Possibilities, Routledge, 2005.
Kieser, K., Spillmann (eds), The New Switzerland: Problems and Policies,
Society for the Promotion of Science and Scholarship, Palo Alto, US, 1996.
Kriesi H., Peter Farago P., Martin Kohli M. and Milad Zarin-Nejadan M.
Contemporary Switzerland - Revisiting the Special Case. Palgrave Macmillan.
2005.
Kriesi H., Trechsel A. H. The Politics of Switzerland - Continuity and Change in a
Consensus Democracy. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Linder W. Swiss Democracy – Possible Solutions to Conflicts in Multicultural
Societies, second edition, MacMillan Press. 1997.
New M., Switzerland Unwrapped: Exposing the Myths, London; New York: I.B.
Tauris, 1997.
Steinberg J., Why Switzerland, Cambridge, University Press, 1996.
Surhone L. M., Miriam T. Timpledon M. T., Marseken S. F.(Eds). Voting in
Switzerland. VDM Publishing House. 2010.
Trampusch Ch., Mach A. Switzerland in Europe. Continuity and Change in the
Swiss Political Economy. Routledge Advances in European Politics. 2011.
Belgium
Belien P. A Throne in Brussels. Imprint Academic. 2005.
Billiet, J.; Maddens B., Frognier A.-P. Does Belgium (still) exist? Differences in
political culture between Flemings and Walloons. West European Politics 29:5.
2006. 912–932.
Boudart M., Boudart M., Bryssinck R. (Eds.), Modern Belgium, Palo Alto,
California: Society for the Promotion of Science and Scholarship, 1990.
Brewster J., Miller F., Vandome A. Flemish Movement: Language legislation in
Belgium, History of Belgium, Flanders, Partition of Belgium. Alphascript
Publishing. 2009.
Cook B., Belgium: a History, Peter Lang, 2004.
Deschouwer, K.. "And the peace goes on? Consociational democracy and
Belgian politics in the twenty-first century". West European Politics 29:5, 2006.
895–911.
Deschouwer, K. The Politics of Belgium: Governing a Divided Society. Palgrave
MacMIllan. 2009.
Fitzmaurice J., The Politics of Belgium – A Unique Federalism, Hurst & Company,
London, 1996.
Hermans Th., The Flemish Movement – a Documentary History 1780-1990,
London, Athlone Press, 1992.
Matthijs H., Draguet M., The Belgians, Labor, Brussels, 1992.
O’Neill M., Belgium: Language, Ethnicity and Nationality, Parliamentary Affairs 53,
2000, 114-134.
Sinardet D., Belgian Federalism Put to the Test: The 2007 Belgian Federal
Elections and their Aftermath. West European Politics 32:5, 2008.1016 – 1032.
Strikwerka C., House Divided – Catholics, Socialists, and Flemish Nationalists in
Nineteenth-century Belgium, Rowman & Littlefield, 1998.
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Sinardet, D.. Belgian Federalism Put to the Test: The 2007 Belgian Federal
Elections and their Aftermath, West European Politics 31:5, 2008, 1016–1032.
Swenden, W.; Brans M.and De Winter L. The politics of Belgium: Institutions and
policy under bipolar and centrifugal federalism. West European Politics 29:5,
2006. 863–873.
Swenden, W., Maarten Th. J.. "Will it stay or will it go?' Federalism and the
sustainability of Belgium. West European Politics 29:5, 2006. 877–894.
Witte E., Craeybeckx, Meynen A., Political History of Belgium from 1830 onwards,
University Amsterdam, 2001.
France
Ardagh J., France in the New Century, Penguin Books, 2001.
Birnbaum, P. The Idea of France, Hill and Wang, 2001.
Braudel F., The Identity of France, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 2 volumes,
1988.
Caron, F. An Economic History of Modern France (Routledge Revivals).
Routledge. 2010.
Cole, A.. French Politics and Society. Longman (2nd ed.). 2004.
Cook M., Davie G., Modern France – Society in Transition, Routledge, 1999.
Culpepper P. Changing France: The Politics That Markets Make. Palgrave
MacMillan. 2006.
Drake H. Contemporary France. Series: Contemporary States and Societies
Series. Palgrave Macmillan. 2011.
Flower J.E., France Today, Hodder Arnold H&S, 1997.
Gildea R., Children of the Revolution: The French 1799-1914. Harvard University
Press. 2008.
Hargreaves A. G.. Multi-Ethnic France - Immigration, Politics, Culture and Society,
2nd Edition. Routledge. 2007.
Hargreaves A., McKinney M. Post-Colonial Cultures in France. Routledge. 1997.
MacMillan J., Doyle W. Modern France 1880-2002. Oxford University Press, USA,
2003.
Magraw R. France, 1800-1914: A Social History. Longman. 2002.
Mermier G., France – Past & Present, Peter Lang, New York, 2000.
Nadeau, J.-B., Sixty Million French Can’t Be Wrong. Sourcebooks, Inc.,
Naperville, Illinois, 2003.
Noiriel, G. The French Melting Pot: Immigration, Citizenship, and National
Identity. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996.
Kedward R. France and the French - A Modern History. Overlook TP. 2007.
Kidd W., Reynolds S. Contemporary French Cultural Studies. Hodder Arnold
Publication. 2000.
Sowerwine Ch. France since 1870 – Culture, Society and the Making of the
Republic (2nd ed.).Palgrave MacMillan. 2009.
Todd E., The Making of Modern France – Politics, Ideology and Culture, Basil
Blackwell, 1991.
Popkin J. A History of Modern France. Prentice Hall. 2000.
Zeldin Th., The French, Kodansha Amer, 1996.
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Waters, S. Social Movements in France: Towards a New Citizenship. New York:
Palgrave MacMillan, 2003.
Journal French Politics, Culture & Society at Hong Kong Baptist University main
library (electronic version)
Luxembourg
Calmes Ch., The Making of a Nation from 1815 to the Present Day, Editions
Saint-Paul, 1989.
Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. About Languages, 2008.
Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. About Political Institutions in
Luxembourg. 2006.
Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. About History of the Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg. 2008.
Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. About Multicultural
Luxembourg. 2008.
Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Everything you need to know
about the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. 2010.
Ibp Usa, Luxembourg Foreign Policy and Government Guide, International
Business Publications, USA, 2003.
Newcomer, J., The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: The Evolution of Nationhood
963 A.D. to 1983, Editions Emile Borschette (Luxembourg). 1995.
Newton G., Luxembourg & Lëtzebuergesch, Language and Communication at
the Crossroads of Europe, Oxford University press, 1996.
Newton G., Essays On Politics, Language and Society in Luxembourg, The
Edwin Mellen Press Ltd, 1999.
Statec. Luxembourg in figures 2010. 2010.
Prepared by: Dr. Beatrice Cabau / September 2010
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