On the Future of the French Republic w/ Nabila Ramdani

Part of a larger book tour, this hybrid talk offers a chance to learn more about Nabila Ramdani’s new book Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic and reflect on the future of the French Republic. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session and a book signing.

About the book

‘[A] highly readable … blazing indictment of modern France … Ramdani’s criticism is heartfelt and justified.’ — The Sunday Times

France—the romanticised, revolutionary land of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity for all—is failing. Reform is urgently needed. This book is a powerful indictment of the status quo, and a highly original perspective on the challenges to which the nation must rise.

Nabila Ramdani is not from the establishment elite: she is a marginalised insider, born and raised in a neglected Paris suburb. With unflinching clarity, she probes the fault lines of her struggling country, exposing the Fifth Republic as an archaic system which emerged from Algeria’s cataclysmic War of Independence.

Today, a monarchical President Macron shows little interest in democracy, while a far-right party founded by Nazi collaborators threatens to replace him. Segregation, institutionalised rioting, economic injustice, the debasement of women, a monolithic education system, deep-seated racial and religious discrimination, paramilitary policing, terrorism and extremism, and a duplicitous foreign policy all fuel the growing crisis.

Yet Ramdani offers real hope: the broken French Republic can, and must, be fixed.

About the author

Nabila Ramdani is a French author of Algerian descent and an award-winning journalist, academic and broadcaster. Nabila has been published extensively in international outlets including The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, The Washington Post and The Sunday Times. She has been a regular commentator for the BBC, CNN, Sky News and Al Jazeera among many others. Educated at Paris VII University and the London School of Economics (LSE), Nabila taught at the University of Oxford and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.