The aim is to address the issue of the weight of history on communities and the political stakes of national identities and cultural, linguistic and religious minorities today. More generally, we will give elements of reflection on the transmission of elements of identity, their representation and their integration into a national or European community.
Alsace and its inhabitants will be used as a case study to reflect on these questions. Who are the Alsatians? What makes them French? Germans? Europeans?
In this narrative presentation illustrated by numerous documents, the history of Alsace is not only told through the ups and downs of its membership and its cultural and linguistic mutation. We proceed to a "historical dissection" of this region with a unique status in France since 1 January 2020: the European Collectivity of Alsace. Quite a programme!