France Stratégie’s analysts then drew on the seminars, an opinion poll carried out by the research firm IFOP and extensive socioeconomic data to put together its in-depth report Fault Lines: Bringing a Society Together (Lignes de failles. Une société à réunifier).
Though issues such as inequality and social mobility represent very real divides, the report shows the French populace holds an excessively negative opinion of the state of their society when compared to the image citizens abroad hold of their own countries. For France Stratégie, this reflects widespread distrust in the country’s institutions, which are not seen as inclusive and empowering but rather distant and unresponsive.
Beyond assessing the situation, the report also aims to spark a debate on how to overcome the country’s divisions and rally French citizens around a common direction for the future. What actions are necessary and which pitfalls need to be avoided? And how can France’s social compact be reinvigorated?
