L'amerique a l'epreuve des annees soixante : deconstruction et fragmentation
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Abstract EN:
Social activism in the 1960s is presented as arising from an american tradition of affirming the fundamental myths of the nation. These myths issued from colonial beliefs related to the concepts of community, work and equality and came to be incorporated in the nation's founding documents -- the declaration of independence and the u. S. Constitution. The force of the myths operating through these instruments has been considerable and the "americanization process", which relies chiefly on english language education, has, in principle at least, made these texts and the rights and privileges they promise accessible to the ordinary citizen. Since the birth of the nation, however, powerful interests in government and business have tried to undermine the terms of this quasi-contractual relationship between citizen and state, and they have tried to achieve their aims chiefly through the manipulation of legal language. The underlying tensions which resulted in the social upheaval of the 1960s are examined in this light. The sixties crisis was resolved in the tacit decision to discard the nation's unifying mythic elements, and this thesis analyzes the scientific, juridical and philosophical reasoning which succeeded in delegitimizing, not only the myths incorporated in america's formative legal texts, but the language in which they were written. The conclusion is drawn that it is this delegitimation of english, as presently institutionalized in bilingual and multicultural educational policy, which is largely responsible for the current fragmentation of america.
Abstract FR:
Les annees soixante sont presentees comme directement issues d'une tradition americaine qui affirme les mythes fondamentaux de la nation. Ces mythes provenant des croyances coloniales avaient trait aux concepts de communaute, de travail et d'egalite. Cette these montre comment ces mythes en vinrent a etre incorpores dans les documents fondateurs de la nation : la declaration d'independance et la constitution. La force de ces mythes s'est averee considerable et le "processus d'americanisation" qui repose principalement sur l'education en anglais a, en principe du moins, rendu ces textes ainsi que les droits et privileges qu'ils promettent, accessibles au citoyen ordinaire. Cependant, depuis la naissance de la nation, de puissants interets au gouvernement et dans le monde des affaires ont constamment essaye de saper les termes de cette relation quasi-contractuelle entre le citoyen americain et l'etat. Et ces interets ont tente de parvenir a leurs fins principalement par la manipulation de la langue du droit. C'est dans cette optique que les tensions sous-jacentes qui sont a l'origine de la contestation des annees soixante aux etats-unis sont etudiees. La crise des annees soixante s'est terminee par un accord tacite consistant a ecarter rejeter les elements mythiques unifiant la nation, et cette these examine le type de raisonnement scientifique, juridique et philosophique qui reussit a delegitimiser non seulement les mythes incorpores aux deux documents fondamentaux mais la langue meme dans laquelle ils sont ecrits.