French President Nicolas Sarkozy has decided to create a museum of French history in Paris, attempting to create his own legacy a la Francois Mitterand and the Louvre pyramid and Georges Pompidou and the art museum named after him. However, theres a problem with Sarkozy's plan...or a few problems. First is his choice of venue, the French National Archives. For one, the building is already claimed...and in heavy use. The archivists there say that they already don't have enough space, and two, they've already got a renovation of the interior of the space used for their own purposes, not Sarkozy's. The staff of the archive is trying to make their point to Sarkozy by staging a peaceful sit in, which has gone on for 2 months at this point. Residents seem to be behind the archivists, rather than the President. Further, the impression that is being given by choosing a palace for the French National Museum is one of history being about the upper classes, not the working people. Whether that was his intention or not in choosing such a location, Sarkozy is also being accused of trying to subvert history for his own right wing purposes.
So, what do you think? Is Sarkozy trying to make history into something it's not? How would you go about choosing and setting up a museum of French history? Do you think the archivists sit in is effective? What might you do differently?
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