Ingram has produced an ethnographically rich, theoretically informed, and engaging study that speaks in a novel way to that most French of concerns and illuminates trends in cultural politics in France and throughout the European Union. -- Jeffrey Cole, Connecticut College Based on long-term ethnographic research, and richly textured in the telling, Rites of the Republic is a highly original and vivid exploration of the tensions between the arts, popular culture, and national ideologies as they play out on stage in two citizens' theatre troupes in southern France. -- Susan Terrio, Georgetown University A powerful and enlightening piece of contemporary ethnographic work, this book gives us a deep and intelligent analysis of, and reflection on, the evolution of state cultural policy in France, and the Avignon Festival, one of the most popular theatre festivals in Europe. -- Marc Abeles, Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, Paris

In this fascinating exploration of citizenship and the politics of culture in contemporary France, Ingram examines two theatre troupes in Provence: one based in a small town in the rural part of the Vaucluse region, and the other an urban project in Marseille, France's most culturally diverse city. Both troupes are committed to explicitly civic goals in the tradition of citizens' theatre. Focusing on the personal stories of the theatre artists in these two troupes, and the continuities between their narratives, their performances, and the national discourse directed by the Ministry of Culture, Ingram examines the ways in which these artists interpret universalistic ideals underlying both art and the Republic in their theatrical work. In the process he charts the evolution of new models for society and citizenship in a rapidly changing France.