Our first issue of 2024 brings to the table articles that deepen the trends of internationalization and theoretical innovation of the journal. In the first research article, Canadian scholars André Lecours and Stephanie Kerr apply a regional level perspective to nationalist violence through a comparative analysis of the Basque Country and Corsica. Continuing with the theme of social movements, Manuel Cevera-Marzal, based in Belgium, develops the new concept of “movementism” through the case of La France Insoumise in the second piece; demonstrating once again how the French case can lead to innovative comparative theory-building. The mostly Quebec-based team of Thomas Gareau Paquette, Amanda Léal, Juliette Leblanc, Virginie Vandewalle and Ruth Dassonneville marshal an impressive arsenal of data in their statistical analysis of voting for women in Canadian federal elections, including candidates from the bloc québecois. They assert that women candidates may very well NOT be at a disadvantage, at least in the Canadian political landscape; a finding that is quite important for the study of gender and politics in a comparative perspective.

In the fourth article, in the Data and Measures section, two scholars from Kazakhastan, Assiya M. Dikanbayeva and Meiram S. Sarybayev, provide a first-time English-language analysis of French foreign policy in the Central Asian Region of the former Soviet Union—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Using the notion of “soft power” the authors share insight into how Franco-Central Asian relations have become closer through collaboration in education and culture.

Taken together, these articles not only forward a highly global perspective with scholars from three different regions of the world-Europe, North America and Central Asia. The theories and findings that are presented also make a broad contribution to political science more generally through engaging a range of sub areas of study within the political science-nationalism and violence, social movements, gender and politics and international relations/foreign policy as well as a mixture of methodological approaches.

I am delighted to announce here that Palgrave has decided to transpose two special issues published in the journal into two books: Investigating Forty Years of French Politics Through Value Changes edited by Céline Belot, Pierre Bréchon and Frédéric Gonthier and When Gender Equality Policies in Practice Matter: A Comparative Study in France edited by Isabelle Engeli and myself. The publication of these books in the coming year is yet another indicator of the productivity and relevance of the international scholarly community dedicated to the study of France and francophone countries. Many thanks to Palgrave for giving us this opportunity to make an even larger impact.

Finally, the French Politics Group-Association Française de Science Politique collaboration through the American Political Science Association continues to bear fruit. The group is launching a new and improved website—https://web.apsanet.org/fpg/ and a listserve. Elisa Chelle (Université Paris Nanterre) and Isabel M. Perera (Cornell University), both members of our Editorial Advisory Board, have teamed up to organize a thematic section, The French Health Care Paradox: The Best or Worst of Times?, for the upcoming AFSP meeting in Grenoble this July in the name of the group. Daniel Stockmer (University of Ottawa), also a member of our EAB and active member of the group, has put out a call for abstracts for a potential Special Issue on The Politics of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. His detailed CFP can be found at the end of this issue in the section on FPG News.

As always, I thank the incredible collaborative support and teamwork from all who are directly involved with the journal—from our counterparts at Palgrave and Springer Production as well as from our editorial board and associate editors, contributors and reviewers—and the broader international network of scholars dedicated to the comparative study of politics in France and francophone countries. Your feedback, criticism and ideas for future content is of course welcome.

BONNE LECTURE

Amy G. Mazur, Lead Editor

Moscow, Idaho

1/10/24