Shades of indignation
Subtitle: political scandals in France, past and present
By: Paul Jankowski.
Series: Berghahn monographs in French studies -- v. 1
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 228
ISBN-13: 9781845453657
Subjects: Political corruption -- France -- History; Misconduct in office -- France -- History; France -- Politics and government -- Moral and ethical aspects
Description: "At the end of the twentieth century France found itself in the midst of another scandalous fin de siecle, awash with rumors and revelations of wrongdoing in high places. As the millennium expired, the Republic's servants, some sitting, others retired, received much condemnation, whether welcomed or resented. When taken together, surely les affaires now approximate in political significance (if not in noise or invective) those of the Dreyfus or Panama scandals a century ago? Yet the author argues this is not so. Today, treason has vanished and is slowly giving way to a transgression different in kind, but equivalent in gravamen: the crime against humanity.

Corruption is far from disappearing, yet now it inspires resignation rather than indignation - and as such, it has lost its power to scandalize. Jankowski claims that such transformations tell a tale. The state that once aspired to pre-eminence as the sole magnet of loyalty, touchstone of probity, and guarantor of right, has yielded significant ground to the individual who is now more likely to elevate his own dignity and cry scandal on his own behalf."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.