Christian Fich, MA, will defend his PhD thesis entitled
Two Nations Divided by Common Values: French National Habitus and the Rejection of American Power
Anti-Americanism breeds on stereotypes and these stereotypes may sometimes overshadow the more fundamental causes, which prompt resentment against the United States. Arguing that the structural causes of anti-Americanism are related to perceptions of American power, the thesis explores the constitutive factors within the French national identity most likely to prompt anti-American predispositions and analyzes how these predispositions influence the actions and policies of contemporary France. Building on the notions of othering and national habitus, the thesis seeks to demonstrate that at the heart of what has been termed the French anti-American ‘tradition’ lie the fact that the two nations – both imbued with universalist aspirations – can be said to be ‘divided by common values’.

Examiners:
Associate professor Niels Bjerre-Poulsen, CBS
Research Scholar Sophie Meunier, Princeton University
Professor Richard Pells, University of Texas at Austin
Principal supervisor:
Professor Michael Herslund

The Department of International Culture and Communication Studies will host a reception in Faculty Club, Dalgas Have, after the defence.
The defence is open to the public, but in order to plan the catering for the reception we would like you to register at the


Departmental administration
E-mail: vr.iadh@cbs.dk

The thesis can be viewed at http://openarchive.cbs.dk/cbsweb/handle/10398/8026 and from 15 April also at the Language Library, the departmental secretariats and the PhD secretariat in Dalgas Have