Francophonie

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani starts from his own background: the son of a colonist, he learned French from Beninese or Togolese schoolteachers. This paradox leads him to pay tribute to la francophonie (the French-speaking world), which he distinguishes from French domination1. He rejects two positions: a "right-wing" francophonie that equates the language with France, and another that imposes national languages. He defends French as a language that opens people up, against ethnic division and "house arrest". He gives the example of Sankara, who brought French back into schools. He proposes the mother tongue for the first two years of school, then French, and foresees a mixed Ivorian language2. In his commentary on Emmanuel Macron's remarks about Mali, he sets a progressive francophonie against French imperialism. This francophonie is carried by the school and by Victor Hugo, and it is heir to the French Revolution3. From one session to the next, he keeps linking francophonie to his thesis that class relations matter more than race or identity13.

1. 1N comme Niger28 Dec 2014
2. 2Au bistrot avec Pagani : partie 118 Jun 2016
3. 3MALI : Dominique PAGANI RÉAGIT aux propos d'Emmanuel MACRON au sommet Africa Forward16 May 2026

Introduction produced automatically from the 3 sessions on this theme, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the sessions.