Politics in Private: Love and Convictions in the French Political Consciousness [Paperback]

Have you ever fallen out with someone close to you over your political ideas or convictions or felt that a personal relationship was damaged because you disagreed about politics? There is no more interesting or diverse country than France to study how our political opinions influence the variety of relationships we engage in throughout our lifetimes. Using a unique approach, Anne Muxel offers a compelling account of the role our political opinions play in all our lives, whether those opinions are held strongly or not. She looks at the bonds between parents and children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, friends and colleagues, crossing the full spectrum of human relationships to reveal a brilliantly complex portrait of how politics and the emotions intersect. This book is a must, not just for readers interested in France and in politics but also for all those interested in the complexity of human relationships.Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Seeing Politics Through the Prism of Intimacy PART I: LOVE AND POLITICS 3. Politics at Home  4.  Agreeing, Disagreeing PART II: FIGURES OF AGREEMENT  5. The Ideal of Osmosis  6. Categorical Imperative  7. Political Eros  8. Undue Influence  9. Golden Silence PART III: FIGURES OF DISAGREEMENT  10. The Chili Pepper  11. The Scene 12. Breaking Up  13. Democratic Intimacy  14. Malaise  15. Taboo PART IV: POLITICS AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 16. Scene 1: Parents  17. Children and the Desire for Transmission  18. Siblings: Between Twinning and Rivalry  19. The Need for Recognition within the Couple  20. Affinity in Friendship 21. Conclusion 22. Agreement: a Prerequisite for Love? 23. Harmony: an Expectation Proper to our Democratic Societies 25. How Far can Disagreement Go?  26. Difference at the Heart of Love, Conflict at the Heart of Democracy l³$