Commentaire sur le discours de linda colley "british values whatever they are won't hold us together"
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8 pages
COMMENTARY ON“ BRITISH VALUES, WHATEVER THEY ARE WON’T HOLD US TOGETHER”
During the last decades, Britain has been shacked with political troubles especially by the terrorist attacks of the last years in London; Linda Colley, (born in 1949) is a leading historian of Britain, empire and nationalism. She is currently Shelby M.C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University in the United States. In this article “BRITISH VALUES, WHATEVER THEY ARE WON’T HOLD US TOGETHER” published on May 18th, 2006 by a daily left wing paper “the Guardian” , as the title suggest, Colley suggests her approach in promoting a “ new citizen identity” more than into trying to keep « British values » in every people’s mind in order to prevent such events in the future. So, we are first introduced by the aspects which led Britain to discuss on new measures , particularly in a religious thorough, the second part relates the question of a new citizenship concept and the necessity of a Citizen Bill.
() RELIGION IN A THOROUGH CONTEXT
1) A Different Point of View
2) Religion Pluralism
3) Postwar Effects
(() A NEW CITIZENSHIP CONCEPT
1) Learn History of Britain
2) A New Language of Citizenship
3) The Necessity of a Citizen Bill
(° 1) From the 16th century to the 20th, the British Empire was on its peak with its economical but also with its political power. Colley is explaining how things have changed since those times. She uses several times the term “similar” and its derivates to describe former Britain’s people; I quote from l.2 to l.4: « (…) the vast majority belonged to the same religion, and spoke much the same language. And at regular intervals, these very similar people, possessed of very similar values (…) In point of fact, the society lived in a common way of life, they were all protestant. But according to Colley, acts of violence justified by religion have always existed. :«I quote (l.5) they «would cheerfully go and watch some of them being