In my thesis I try to describe transformation of French secularism/laicité from the 1980 and how the function and meaning of this principle has changed. My work is based on hypothesis that the change of laicité is not influenced just by arrival of more Muslims but that is result of deep changes in french politics and society around the turn of the milénium. The first part concentrates on discourse changes denoting Arabs/Muslim. The third part focuses on the changes in french policy on the axis laicité/politics/Muslims. Finally, I analyze the law from 2021 on the so-called separatism of President Emmanuel Macron and policicies related and I put them into overal transformation political use of the principle od laicité.

The attempts to understand discontent and populist surges in the West, especially in recent years, led to an abundance of research, comments, and speculations. Some thinkers asserted that such events are the symptoms of a cleavage restructuration in liberal democratic societies that would be centered around the question of merit. Research generally links higher education and general success in life to satisfaction and relative support of the established order. On the contrary, lesser educated and successful individuals tend to question this state of affairs. A cleavage revolving around success and education would consequently replace previous divisions, such as the usual right-left opposition, but also come on top of other schisms, mainly spatial ones. This thesis offers to verify the existence of such a cleavage with a case study of the Yellow Vests movement, in France. Analyzing the discourse of the representants of the meritocracy, Emmanuel Macron and his government, it finds trends that support the existence of such an underlying conflict.

De senaste 20 åren har Europa genomgått flera kriser som har bidragit till splittringar stater emellan. Parallellt med att allt fler nationalistiska och populistiska partier med viljan att lämna EU växer fram i Europa sprider Frankrikes president Emmanuel Macron EU-vänlig information på sociala medier där han propagerar för sina, Frankrikes och EU:s framtidsvisioner. Genom att studera hur europeiska ledare uttalar sig om EU kan vi få en bild av i vilken riktning de vill driva EU-samarbetet. Uppsatsen syftar till att klarlägga vilka värden som Macrons politiska retorik representerar genom att kategorisera hans uttalanden utifrån tidigare forskning om statliga eliters visioner om EU. Resultatet visar att Macrons vision om EU är att unionen ska fungera som en värdebaserad gemenskap där solidaritet och en gemensam EU-identitet är centrala utgångspunkter. Han har även en vision om att EU ska komma att växa till en allt större strategisk global aktör.

Professional campaign is an integral part for each candidacy, including presidential candidates. Presidential campaigns recognise two significant milestones. The first was presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy in 1960 which is considered to be the beginning of televised politics. The second was Barack Obama's campaign in 2008 with its innovative usage of social media. Emmanuel Macron's campaign from 2017 is aspiring to push the evolution of presidential campaigns further. He surrounded himself with international advisors and based his campaign upon contemporary trends of political communication. Thanks to this he was able to introduce a very effective campaign. This diploma thesis conducts a research of presidential campaigns with the aim to generalise their key features and compare them with Macron's form of campaign. Thanks to this we can explore whether Emmanuel Macron was rather following previous paths or whether he introduced a fundamental progress in the way how presidential campaigns are maintained.

Ce mémoire analyse l’histoire et le développement des relations franco-africaines du colonialisme au XXIe siècle. Je montre comment, à chaque étape de ces relations, que ce soit pendant le colonialisme, la décolonisation, la Françafrique ou "l'amitié" de Macron, l'objectif de l'État français n'a pas changé : préserver l'Afrique comme le pré carré de la France. Je soutiens qu'au XXIe siècle, alors que le continent africain se mondialise de plus en plus, l'État français cherche désespérément à renforcer ses liens avec ses anciennes colonies, notamment par l'éducation, la langue et la culture. Bien qu'Emmanuel Macron déclare que la Françafrique est terminée, sa stratégie visant à faire appel à la jeunesse africaine fait écho à la tactique de la « mission civilisatrice » du colonialisme français. Je soutiens donc que des questions concernant l'héritage colonial français, et leur impact sur l’identité africaine, restent essentielles même au XXIe siècle.

This study seeks to explain political leaders' motives to action, by studying how Jair Bolsonaro and Emmanuel Macron have acted in the matter of the fires in the Amazon rainforest. It is assumed that while political leaders may try to act rationally, they are influenced by psychological factors in terms of educational background and style. The theories of rational choice and political psychology are therefore used and integrated to explain their motives. The method used in the paper is a comparative qualitative content analysis, in which various statements and speeches made by the Presidents are read and analyzed. The results of the thesis show that for Bolsonaro, the Amazon fires is an internal matter and should be handled by the Amazonian countries. He seems to be seeking to achieve national goals, while being influenced by his conservative educational background. Macron indicates that the Amazon is an issue for the international community and that it is of major importance for the whole world. He appears to be seeking international goals, while being influenced by his liberal educational background. The assumption that political leaders' style influence their motives to action is not supported.

The purpose of this study is to examine if the existing theories within the field of Euroscepticism is sufficient to help us reach a deeper understanding of the changes in party positions and the publics opinion towards the EU and European integration in France between 2016 and 2018. To reach a deeper understanding of the case and the existing theories two research questions have been designed. One that seeks to examine on how we can understand the changes in voter opinion towards the EU. The other one seeks to examine how we can understand how the parties En Marche! and Front National has acted from 2016 to 2018. The method used in this study is a theory-consuming case study. Five theories where generated from the existing body of literature where crucial elements from seven different articles where derived to build a theoretical framework that examines different aspects of the voter vs. party dynamic. Most of the theories where applicable to the case at some point within the examined timeframe and helped us reach a deeper understanding of the case. Although one of the theories stood out and helped us reach a deeper understanding of the case during the entire period. That was the theory regarding that the French publics opinion about the EU seems to have been affected by a wider information-environment more than anything else. Although further research focused on that theory would be necessary to substantiate the findings in this thesis.

Notwithstanding the promises of an end to the Françafrique era, France remains the desired external security actor in francophone Africa. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the discursive legitimation strategies of Emmanuel Macron on France’s military activism in Mali, inquiring ‘How did the French President Emmanuel Macron discursively legitimize France’s military presence in Mali before the announcement of the end of Operation Barkhane?’. The aim is further to explore the construction of the French Self and the Malian Other in the legitimation discourse, asking ‘How did Macron construct a French ‘Self’ and a Malian ‘Other’ in his discourse as legitimate reasons for maintaining the intervention?’. By applying an interpretivist, post-structuralist discourse analysis to official statements published between 2017 and 2021, the thesis concludes that Macron’s discursive legitimation strategies remain approximately similar, yet the greater emphasis on rhetorical themes of equal partnership, non-interference in internal affairs, democracy and an ever-increasing multilateralism have taken place in the face of Paris’ damaged legitimacy. Focusing on the construction of the Self and the Other affirms that Macron constructs the Malian Other as significantly different from the French Self even though the country is seen as capable of transformation and cooperation, requiring the compliance of Western advice.