“Politicians hold the cards to perpetuate the momentum of the Games”: sociologist Jean Viard believes in an Olympic effect for the future

Jean Viard: “The question that will arise is whether we will succeed in inscribing this moment of history in the national narrative”

For the sociologist, the momentum born from the Paris Olympic Games can serve as a launching pad for a political project based on compromise and responsibility. While France is riding high on the success of the biggest event in the world, our leaders still need to agree to see the country as it is, and as it showed itself during the competition.

Can we say that these Games will represent a major episode in our contemporary history ?

I would compare these Olympic Games to the 1900 World's Fair: it is both a rare global event and an event that was intended to have a strong heritage and cultural resonance. The staging of the monuments of Paris, the harbor of Marseille, the Palace of Versailles illustrates the fact that we have “thrown” our entire historical culture into battle, from the kings at the Tuileries and Versailles, the Universal Exhibition with the Grand Palais, the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro, to the new facilities built in Seine Saint-Denis.

On the cultural level, we have highlighted contemporary artists while sublimating La Marseillaise. All this has contributed to the creation of a French narrative. The question that will now arise is whether we will succeed in inscribing this moment of history in the national narrative, for example by keeping the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower or the Tuileries cauldron.

Personally, I would like us to replace the names of the generals on the avenues that lead to the Place de l'Étoile with the names of athletes who triumphed at the Olympics; the message would be quite different…

But is this France of the Olympic Games, united, joyful, patriotic while being diverse, also a fantasized France?

To a certain extent, yes. For example, the very beautiful opening ceremony very much reflected the world of French culture, that is to say that of big cities and urban elites, very sensitive to subjects like the place of LGBT communities. , which are positive subjects, of course, but we have seen very little, for example, of the world of work or the rural world.

We heard very little in this ceremony about rural France and small towns, the one which voted massively for RN in the last legislative elections. This reflects a cultural gap that our Parisian political elites have still not fully understood.

However, the message from the extreme parties was completely inaudible during this competition. Is this a surprise?

Indeed, we haven't heard them. But this observation is also valid for the continuous news media, which do not work on the basis of surveys and reports but by relying on sidewalk microphones and polls. This protesting, critical, very Parisian media France, which never values ​​successes because deep down it does not know them, normally constitutes an ideal sounding board for both the extreme right and the extreme right parties. rsquo;far left.

Faced with the success of the Games, these willingly critical and declining media almost found themselves helpless… This also illustrates the fact that we need to find “passer” journalists, who go into the field to meet those who do or think, and not constantly listen to journalists who work on emotion and polls.

Are politicians able to seize this enchanted interlude of the Olympic Games??

First of all, the observation: these Olympic Games went very well. It is an extraordinary global success for the country. Now, let's look at the political landscape resulting from the elections: the RN won the first round, the Republican Front won the second by demonstrating its rejection of the extreme right.

So we have two powerful camps that could work together, because the gaps are not really that huge between them, but who will not want to because they are obsessed with the presidential election… What is certain is that political parties must absolutely look at France as it is and as it appeared during the Games, that is to say multicultural and resulting from our colonial history, which constitutes a strength and not a weakness!

Why couldn't political parties draw inspiration from the collective work carried out by the Games Organizing Committee??

But I think they can! Moreover, if you look at the political forces that managed to work together to prepare for the Olympics, it is those of the Republican Front: from Hollande to Hidalgo via Pécresse, Macron and Darmanin . The real question is this: can we govern France with the same level of demands as that which presided over the organization of the games? Communities local authorities achieve this, why not a national government ?

The Republican Front is not an ideological front, it is a pragmatic front. If it is able to see France as it is and agree on common projects, this Front can perpetuate the spirit of these Games. Whether this is done with Carole Delga, Bernard Cazeneuve or Xavier Bertrand, people who have recognized experience, that is ultimately not really the subject.

The view of foreign countries on our Games has been unanimous: isn't that one of the best indicators of what we have managed to achieve??

The only controversy concerned one of the scenes in the opening ceremony, which is to say… For the rest, imagine for a second the repercussions in terms of tourism! We will quickly exceed 120 to 130 million visitors per year, which will pose a real challenge for us in terms of overtourism.

France's image has improved considerably, particularly in terms of hospitality and friendliness. The same goes for cleanliness, for which we were not necessarily known.

There is a lot of talk about the “legacy of the Games”. How do you see it”?

It's a bit like the question of after-sales service! In terms of tourism, culture and luxury products, which is still the economic flagship of the moment, we can certainly gain very significant market shares. In terms of politics this time, the question is whether we are going to see a return to the mediocrity that has marked the last few months. If that is the case, there will certainly not be much left of the “spirit of the Games”.

If, on the other hand, we manage to form a government from the Republican Front of the second round of the legislative elections, thus going from the Republican right to the Republican left, and we agree on a strong program of about fifteen points ranging from the minimum wage to retirement, we tackle the functioning of the state apparatus and we preserve public services, we can transform the test. Politicians hold the cards.

I subscribe to read the rest