Some cities are built in a day

Disney, Disney, Disney. Why are you so ridiculous/impressive/frightening?

In order to open its theme park near Paris, France, the Walt Disney Company signed a contract with the French government that basically boiled down to: You can build a park, but you have to build an entire city around it. And so, in 1992, Disneyland Paris finally opened on 5,000 acres of former beet farms, after much controversy and resistance. I cannot imagine what political maneuvering and business negotiation was needed to make this kind of deal happen.

One of the most interesting developments in this Disney-sponsored new town is France’s only high-end retail outlet center, La Vallée Village. The concept is similar to outlet malls in the US, where you can get name brands at a cheaper cost by buying their overstock, only the chic version. You see high-end brands like Christian Lacroix that don’t usually have outlets, and the stores still offer the boutique experience, as if it were a full-priced store. Think classy clothing displays, small shop sizes, and the same team of employees as the full-priced stores.

Whether a high-end outlet like La Vallée changes the demographics of its neighborhood is yet to be seen. The area itself is not great, but people from posh neighborhoods are driving in to shop there, as well as people who might not otherwise afford these brands. La Vallée is also situated next to a traditional mall, which features the usual mall brands like H&M, though the two centers appeal to very different markets and don’t seem to compete.

It’s the lighter side of urban development.

Rest in peace, Peter

A Harvard junior collapsed from a cardiac arrest today after the River Run, a beloved annual Harvard tradition. It’s been quite a shock for everyone that a healthy, cheerful 20-year-old could die so suddenly. I wish it did not take moments like these to remind us how precious our time is with our loved ones.

Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

Un petit intellectual existential crisis

One thing that frustrates me about the senior thesis is that it doesn’t necessarily “do” anything. I am asking people for their time, to enter into their lives, but at the end of day, the findings don’t go anywhere. They sit on my laptop, and, if I do really well on my thesis, in Harvard’s archives.

It feels like almost-real-but-actually-practice research that helps only me, personally, with no reciprocity. The usual benefit that subjects get out of an interview is the chance to reflect on personal experiences, but I’m talking to people who have already been interviewed by researchers and/or journalists, sometimes numerous times.

One could argue a long-term reciprocity if this influences me personally, and down the line affects what I do in the world. Or that in speaking to so many people about my thesis, even if the written work itself is not public, I am spreading knowledge about the issue. Something like that.

But I think, as usual, I am taking myself too seriously. My methodology book, Recit de vie, says this: “You aren’t stealing or exploiting anyone’s stories; you’re just talking to them.” And if your interview subjects are happy to do it, and you’re happy to listen, then the most important criteria have been met.

What's your thesis on again?

The short version: I am interested in affirmative action in elite universities in France, and how it’s working out over here. After some interviews, I will write a 100-page paper about it.

The long version: It is very difficult to break into the French elite. If you look at French politicians, professors, CEOs, etc., the vast majority of them come from the same few universities. Go back even further, and many of them even went to the same high schools. There are numerous explanations for this, that Americans are not unfamiliar with: schools in different neighborhoods differ in quality of education and resources, well-educated parents are more informed about college admissions, the elite university admissions system is incredibly competitive, and students from some backgrounds may see elite schools as “not for them.”

Eventually, this was seen as a problem. In 2001, Sciences Po, one of the top French universities, started working with high schools in disadvantaged areas classified as “priority education zones” (acronym ZEP). Rather than the usual written entrance exam, students from these schools go through oral exams in front of a panel of judges. It is not supposed to be easier or harder, just different.

During my three months here, I am talking to Sciences Po students admitted via this policy, teachers in ZEP schools, and administrators who are involved, to find out more about how the policy plays out in practice. How does one define the success of such a policy? What are the social consequences of being admitted through a special process? And other difficult questions…

Anecdote: The French pace of (administrative) life

In searching for a place to live in Paris this year, I considered living in a foyer, which is more or less a dorm that is not university-affiliated. I find my interactions with them very typical of the infamous administrative delays in France.

June: Apply to the foyer.

early July: Letter from the foyer—“Sorry, we don’t accept students working with Sciences Po.” (Too elite of a university.)

mid July: I send a panicked email to friends in Paris, asking about apartments.

late July: Letter from the foyer—“A room has been reserved. Here is your receipt for 411E.”

August: I now have two places. The foyer says they can reimburse my deposit, so I take the apartment.

September: I send an email saying, “Hey, I’m in Paris, when can I pick up my check?”

October: After several calls and emails, I finally get someone on the phone at the foyer to ask about my reimbursement.

They will theoretically call me back soon.

Un petit pity party

Sometimes I wonder if I’m not just making things more difficult for myself by coming to France. Doing research in a foreign country and in a foreign language is daunting for several reasons. As a sociologist, I need to be aware of what my interviewees are telling me and not telling me; what backgrounds they are coming from; and I need to connect with them. While there are pros to being an outsider, there are also a number of challenges.

Working in a foreign language is also time-consuming, because it takes me twice as long to read in French, and at least three times as long to transcribe an interview in French. And the thing about being fluent in a language is…nobody cares. If my French passes, people just treat me as French. No pat on the back. No high five. Even worse, they don’t do hugs.

But at the end of the day, it’s pretty badass that I have a research grant to come to Paris, friends and family who are understanding about my taking a semester off, and I have friends from last year who are willing to help me out. So I can’t really complain.

60 Million Votes for Obama

With no major elections happening in France this year, the French have turned their attention to our presidential elections. And if the French could vote in the American election, there is no question that Obama would win. 80% of the French people prefer Obama, according to an international BBC poll and a TNS-Sofres Institute survey. Based on my interactions, it seems more like 100%.

One straightforward reason the French like Obama is that his issue stances are more closely aligned with the socialist French. One French student explained to me that McCain seems extremist in his views, Palin even more so. In a country where most children are born out of wedlock and where religious symbols are not allowed in school, the values of American conservatives can be shocking.

However, one must also wonder if Obama’s race a factor in the French people’s preference. They like that he is métisse, they like that a black man can be such a successful politician…abroad.

The thing about race in France is, it remains a taboo subject—you might offend someone even by saying race—but it’s ok to talk about race relations in other countries, especially the United States. They think we are obsessed with race, that we cannot construe any social issue without taking race into account. (Not far from the truth, of course.) So when it comes to Obama, the French are ready to pride us on our diversity, ready to congratulate us on getting past our long history of racism, but not ready to ask themselves why they could never have a black president in the near future.

For the time being, Obama’s candidacy allows them to continue ignoring such problems by focusing on American race relations. Or maybe “Obama” is simply easier to pronounce in French.