Latest posts by Suzanne Lehn
Europe: Will ACTA Treaty Pass After Protests?
The ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty (ACTA) by the European Parliament has been delayed in expectation of an opinion from the European Court of Justice on its conformity with fundamental rights.
La Réunion : A Dynamism far from the Cliché of Dependence on Public Aid
Sandrine Dionys interviewed [fr] Emmanuelle, a young entrepreneur from La Réunion for the Bondy Blog. She rails against the cliché of the Réunion Islanders being dependent on the French government for aid.
International Mother Language Day in Francophone Regions
February 21st is International Mother Language Day. Discussion of the origins of this celebration, and a brief review of current developments in French language and new technologies.
France : Who is French and who is not?
Abdellali Hajjat, author of the book The Boundires of National Identity: The Injunction to Assimilation in France and its Territories, explains in an interview [fr] on the blog Contretemps the ideological seeds of Islamophobia and the institutional logic that reinforces it. “Racism needs a crutch to provide the principle of...
France : Dozens of Anti-ACTA Protests
Despite freezing temperatures, a few thousand netizens joined the Saturday Feb. 11 worldwide protests against ACTA, in Paris and some 40 other cities in France. One can find pictures on clubic.com, a video of the protests [fr] on Madmax's blog, an Anti – Acta France Facebook page and the details [fr] of a petition on the Gizmodo blog.
France: A Drone Campaigning… for President
Dédé l'Abeillaud (another name for a drone – a male bee in a colony of social bees, which inspires his costume) is the self-proclaimed candidate of biodiversity for the French presidential election of 2012. He boasts of winning over 300 promised votes for local officials, as much as the National...
Francophone Africa: The Important Literary Contributions from Former Colonies
The Genevan blog of Rémi Mogenet, Le Savoyard de la Tribune, explains with supporting examples that [fr]: “Mythological African traditional stories have made a remarkable entrance into francophone literature”. He quotes the Mandika epic tale of Soundjata, written and published in French by Guinean D. T. Niane, as well as, for...
France : Strike against the RFI – France 24 merger project
The blog Écrans, published on the online version of the daily French newspaper Libération, explains the issues [fr] of the merger of the RFI radio and the TV channel France 24 [fr] and its impact on the French public broadcasting system for international news. The RFI staff, worried about the radio...
World: “Faithbook”, a Project Against Religious Intolerance
Two young “faith-trotters” Anne-Laure and Frederic launched “faithbook” [fr], a project that will take them across the world to meet similar pro-peace initiatives. They look to start a dialogue between people of faith who believe in peaceful coexistence through initiatives in various domains such as sports, education, culture and environment. They will shortly...
New Caledonia: Controversy around the 1988 Ouvéa Hostage Taking Movie
French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz's movie “L'ordre et la morale” (“Order and morality”), that recounts the tragic 1988 hostage taking at the Ouvéa cave, is not welcome in New Caledonia. The blog Ecran Noir (‘Black Screen’) describes the local controversy around the film's release, here and here [fr]. After New Caledonia's one and...
France: A tribute to Author Hubert Nyssen
French writer and publisher Hubert Nyssen [fr], who founded the publishing house Actes Sud, died on Nov. 12. 2011. Among the many tributes to this lover of foreign litteratures and eulogist of translation as a form of art, one can find Sabrina's post that retraces [fr] his biography, an unabridged version...
France: Calls for Official Recognition of 1961 Paris Algerian Massacre
Fifty years after the bloody suppression of a peaceful demonstration by Algerians in Paris, French officials are still struggling to admit their responsibility. Calls for the official recognition of the 1961 massacre have been building in this anniversary year.
France: A Criticism of the “Imperialist Consensus”
“The televised debate between (presidential candidates) Hollande and Aubry showed us that, for the most part, the Socialist Party shares the opinions of the right on foreign policy,” writes [fr] the blog Le Petit Blanquiste, for whom the positions of the Socialist Party on Afganistan, Palestine, Iran, nuclear strategy and arms, and...
France: Towards an Admission of the 17 Octobre 1961 Suppression?
The blog Le Petit Blanquiste recounts [fr] the peaceful demonstration by Algerians in Paris, on 17 October 1961, which was suppressed in blood, and the media reactions of the time. After 50 years of near silence, there are emerging signs of an admission of fault.
Togo: 3rd BarCamp Selects the Translation for “Blog” in Ewé Language
In its presentation of the third edition of BlogCamp Togo, togocouleurs explains that [fr] the Togolese blogosphere coined a new word for “blog” in the Ewé language (spoken in Togo, Ghana and Benin) : “with the vote taking place directly on the ETTIC [fr] (‘Togolese Space for Information and Communication Technologies’)...
France : Two Moroccan Actresses Turned Away
Two Moroccan actresses, invited to the Cannes Film Festival for Leila Kilani's movie “Sur la planche” [On a Plank]” were turned away at Nice airport on Thursday, May 19. They were authorized to return afterwards. In Morocco, blogger kechmania commented [fr] : “In a perfect world, official apologies would have...
Tunisia: Deputy Minister Slim Amamou Resigned
On May 23, Tunisian blogger Slim Amamou announced [fr] on Twitter his resignation as Secrétaire d'état [deputy minister] for Sports and Youth. Amamou was known to livetweet cabinet meetings on his personal Twitter account @slim404 [fr]. He explains why he has resigned here and here [fr].
France : The “Civilized” Internet According to President Sarkozy
As a prelude to the G8 summit in Deauville, chaired by France, the e-G8 forum of the Internet was held in Paris on 23 and 24 May 2011. To the dismay of supporters of civil society, the interventions on the forum were limited to government agencies and large companies.
France, World: Discontent Against G8 Meeting About the Internet
Blog Club de l'Europe is outraged [fr] by the “Internet sharks’ feast” to be held on May 24 and 25, 2011, at the Musée du Louvre, in Paris. The meeting aims to prepare the G8 forum, which will be focused (according to its French presidency) on the Internet, but only economic and...
North Africa: Manifesto for a Maghreb of Cinema
The Arab revolution has also impacted the cinema world. Filmmakers from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have just launched on their blog Maghreb du cinéma [fr], a suggestion box to reinvigorate the creation, production and distribution of their work. Their manifesto can be signed here [fr].
Tunisia: Habib Bourguiba Avenue, Post Revolution
On Bondy Blog, Widad Kefti portrays [fr] the capital “Tunis’ main road, stripped clean of Benalism”.