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The article presents updates on matters related to the French Ministry of Culture as February 2011. Performance arts and advanced audiovisual technologies were combined in holding the Festival international du théâtre de rue at Aurillac from August 18-21, 2010. Papers are being solicited for the Society for French Studies 52nd Annual Conference to be held at Queen Mary University of London in England from July 4-6, 2011. A list of culture-related websites is presented.

This article responds to the paper "Multicultural Citizenship Within Multination States," by Will Kymlicka. It recognizes the paper for offering a convincing normative position on citizenship education. It assesses the proposed inclusion of citizenship in the curricula of England and France. The securitization of immigration is also discussed.

Background: The impact of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) on the performance and career of professional soccer players has not been extensively investigated. Purpose: To evaluate in professional European soccer players (1) the ACL injury incidence, (2) the return-to-play (RTP) rate and time after ACLR, (3) career survival and athlete performance in the first 3 postoperative seasons after RTP, (4) factors likely related to different outcomes after ACLR, and (5) any related differences between the top 8 European soccer leagues. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Included were professional soccer players in the top 8 European Soccer leagues (Serie A [Italy], Premier League [England], Ligue 1 [France], LaLiga [Spain], Bundesliga [Germany], Jupiler Pro League [Belgium], Liga NOS [Portugal], and Premier Liga [Russia]) who sustained an ACL injury during seasons 2014 to 2015, 2015 to 2016, and 2016 to 2017. Data were retrieved from publicly available online sources. Outcomes were evaluated based on player age (<25 years, 25-30 years, and >30 years), position (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward), affected side (dominant vs nondominant), and league. Results: Overall, 195 players sustained an ACL injury, for a mean annual ACL injury incidence of 1.42%. The RTP rate was 95%, with a mean RTP time of 248 ± 136 days. Within the third postoperative season, 66 players (36%) competed in a lower level national league, and 25 (13.6%) ended their careers; a significant reduction in the mean minutes played per season was found in all 3 postoperative seasons. Player age correlated significantly with reduction in performance or recovery from an ACL injury. No significant correlation was found between postoperative player performance and affected side, position, league, or time to RTP. Conclusion: A substantial ACL injury incidence was found in top European elite soccer players; however, a high RTP rate in a reasonable time was seen after ACLR. Nevertheless, professional soccer players experienced a short-term decline in their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the current policy emphasis on extending working lives, we investigate whether the relationship between participation in paid work, other formal, and informal activities among people aged 50–69 is complementary or competitive. We also investigate differences in associations between countries using comparable longitudinal data from Denmark, France, Italy, and England. We find positive associations between informal and formal engagement in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Paid work was negatively associated with formal and informal engagement, and respondents who stopped working were more likely to be engaged in formal (Denmark and France) and informal activities (England and Italy) at follow-up than respondents who continued working. However, the strongest predictor of formal and informal engagement at follow-up was baseline engagement. In the context of policy aims to extend working lives and broaden older people’s participation in other productive activities, new balances between work and other forms of engagement are still to be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author compares the way in which anti-(ethnic) discrimination policies regarding access to social housing are implemented on the ground in Britain and France through case studies in Birmingham and Marseilles. Beyond sharp differences in the conceptions and "philosophies" of antidiscrimination policies in those two national "models" (a differentialist conception in Britain versus a universalist conception in France), the author shows the limits of these policies on the ground in both cases. In particular, the author shows how (a) the way in which ethnic discrimination is locally constructed as a public issue and (b) the constraints and contradictions faced by local institutions and street-level bureaucrats dealing with social housing on a day-to-day basis contribute to their failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on new empirical, qualitative research with minority ethnic rugby league players in the southwest of France. Drawing on similar research on rugby league in the north and the south of England, the article examines how rugby league, traditionally viewed as a white, working-class male game (Collins, 2006; Denham, 2004; Spracklen, 1995, 2001) has had to reimagine its symbolic boundaries as they are constituted globally and locally to accommodate the needs of players from minority ethnic backgrounds. In particular, the article examines the sense in which experiences of minority ethnic rugby league players in France compare with those of their counterparts in England (Spracklen, 2001, 2007), how rugby league is used in France to construct identity, and in what sense the norms associated with the imaginary community of rugby league are replicated or challenged by the involvement of minority ethnic rugby league players in France. Questions about what it means to be (provincial, national) French (Kumar, 2006) are posed, questions that relate to the role of sport in the construction of Frenchness, and in particular the role of rugby league (and union). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the agrarian development and regional ecology in England and France. Since both countries are composed of several regions with distinct agricultural practices, examining agricultural changes on a regional basis can reveal patterns that are commonly overlooked in national-level analysis. The author argues that the diverse agrarian regimes in England and France were caused by the differences in regional ecology and agricultural opportunities. He compared the agrarian development in each region based on differences in ecology, responses to changing market conditions and variation in social organization and husbandry approaches.