redistribution of wealth, at least in the imagination of the citizens and the political classes. This idea about the role of the State was widely recognised and perpetuated. The welfare system as we know it in France, is the result of a long process of mediation (social negotiation) with the purpose of creating functional solidarity between the political (public authorities), economic (labour) and domestic (family) spheres. This social welfare system is still very powerful but mistrust in it among the general population has grown quickly. One can see this lack of trust most clearly in the attitude of ordinary people to the pension system and national education. Irrespective of how well they succeed in their education and in their later careers, young people no longer believe that they can provide the resources needed to maintain the welfare system, and therefore, what appears to be expected of them in terms of social justice. In addition, the French welfare system is in transition. The context in which it has to operate has changed considerably in the last years. While changes are certainly necessary, these are difficult to make when neoliberal economic perspectives are favoured, as is the case today in Europe and in the European Union’s institutions. Demanding that more must be done with less, the liberal approach pushes for reform of the current welfare system in the direction of the personal/ individual coverage of risks through insurances, and social responses compatible with market logics including social enterprise, ‘social impact bonds’ and social investing. There is a very real risk that France’s social welfare system will become a marginal safety net focused solely on the poorest in a market driven commodified society. The struggle over what kind of society France wants to be is one of the key stakes of civic engagement today. Even if the reciprocity-based approach is gaining momentum, the idea of redeveloping the ‘universal’ social welfare system is not. On the one hand, people are excited by the ideas and practices of the collaborative economy and the circular economy. On the other, young workers do not trust the welfare State. They have been convinced by the dominant narrative, which claims the current model is not sustainable and will therefore not be in a position to pay them pensions by the time they are of retirement age.
At the same time, there is hope. Activists and social movements are learning from the myriad of initiatives they are experimenting with and observe in their immediate surroundings. They practice politics, in the form of debate in public spaces, and consensus-building on the questions of daily life and of social organisation. Will they be able to rethink the terms for implementing a social welfare system that takes from the Commons to build a decentralised, participative and inclusive approach? The challenge is to make social welfare a shared issue! Reinventing mutualism in the 21st century!
Contemporary tendencies in civic engagement in France We can observe two key new tendencies in civic engagement in France that are of particular significance. These are mobilisation for climate justice and the revival of the Commons. We will look at each, and then consider some specific initiatives that are good examples of how these tendencies are being played out in the French context. The first tendency of significance is the growing space and role of mobilisation on environmental and climate issues in the post COP 21 Climate Conference context. COP 21 took place in France in 2015. The preparation of this international conference saw the emergence of a large movement for climate justice, and growing awareness and concern among the broader public for environmental issues. The concept of climate justice addresses ideas of justice as they relate to ecology, climate and the environment. It is based on the idea that the natural environment, and its ecosystems, should be considered as part of the Commons. This idea is widely shared today. Yet, and paradoxically, this shared concern has not yet opened up significant perspectives for change in the environmental field, with it becoming obvious that big business has not adopted new and innovative practices. At this point, it is still difficult to know precisely what the effects of this mobilisation have been on society. One would have to conduct some more in depth research with actors of the movement. However, first indications are that there have been two indirect effects in France. Firstly, civic movements such as Alternatiba (see below) were
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