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In a provocative 1985 cover story featuring the face of Marianne obscured by an Islamic veil, Le Figaro magazine asked: 'Serons-nous encore français dans 30 ans?' With those thirty years now spanned, where does France stand in relation to the fears, challenges and opportunities associated with changing perceptions of ethnic and cultural diversity? Where do the most significant challenges to 'Frenchness' now lie? In Islamism? In the disadvantaged multi-ethnic banlieues? In European integration? In American hegemony? Is 'Frenchness' itself, championed by political elites under the banner of 'l'exception culturelle', an outmoded concept, destined to wither in the face of transnational forces? In addressing these questions, contributors to this special issue of Nottingham French Studies suggest that while French political and intellectual elites have generally been reluctant to embrace change, the participation of immigrant minorities in the life of the nation has been accepted more readily in fields of popular culture such as cinema and sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]