Global Reflections
A Modern Economy?: The Effect of Immigration on the French Economy, 1962-1990
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Joo Kyung Lee
How did immigration affect the French economy from 1962 to 1990? From the beginning of the 20th-century until early 1970s, France received an increasing stream of immigrants mostly from its (former) colonies. This changes in 1974, when the country responds to the first oil shock of 1973 by closing its borders to further immigration. The country and its citizens perceived immigration as an economic threat; but was this truly the case? The paper analyzes census and wage data spanning three decades (1962 – 1990) to evaluate the effect of immigration on the French economy. Namely, the paper analyzes the composition of the active labor force and the immigrants’ wages relative to French citizens’ wages. The paper takes a novel interdisciplinary approach between historical and economic analysis. It is initially inspired by a historical approach which interprets the immigration ban of 1974 as a culmination of the events of 1960s – the independence of France’s largest colony Algeria in 1962 and the Student Protests of May 68. On the one hand, the paper argues that the policy change of 1974 reflected the country’s realization of its new, modern identity marked by decolonization and social movements. On the other hand, the paper demonstrates that such rupture is also importantly demonstrated in the economic landscape. Finally, the paper concludes that 1974 indeed marks the beginning of France's turn to modern politics and economy, which continues until today.
Spanish Fiction in the Eastern Armenian Press - Late 19th - Early 20th Century View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lilit Mkrtchyan
The study explores the works of Spanish literature translated and presented in the Eastern Armenian periodical press during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, along with the Armenian public's perceptions of Spain and Spaniards as shaped by these works. It seeks to uncover the methods employed by Eastern Armenian periodicals ("Krunk Hayots Ashkharhin", "Ardzaganq", "Meghu Hayastani", "Mshak", "Nor-Dar") to represent Spanish identity. Through new approaches, the research reinterprets Armenian-Spanish cultural interactions by analyzing how the image of Spaniards was constructed in Armenian perceptions and its broader influence on Armenian culture. This scholarly work contributes to the fields of Imagology, Media Studies, Comparative Literature, and Cultural Studies. It applies methodologies such as Literature Review, Textual Discourse Analysis, and Comparative Analysis․ The work also incorporates Artifact Analysis, Close Reading, and Discourse Analysis. The findings reveal a dual representation of Spaniards: on one hand, they were idealized as patriotic, devout, adventurous, and noble, often contrasted with enemies or foreigners, and on the other hand, their flaws—such as materialism, greed, and hypocrisy—were also highlighted. The study concludes that Spanish literature published in the Armenian press significantly shaped a distinct image of Spaniards in Armenian reality, underscoring the cultural and social diversities of the Spanish nation.
