# le vivre ensemble



## Maped40

Vivre ensemble is obviously living together, but there is surely a set phrase in English for "*le* vivre ensemble" in the sense of good relations between the various groups or communities in a society?


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## campbellk2

How about: living in harmony?


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## Maped40

Thank you. Which would be the set phrase when speaking about communities?
For example:
améliorer le vivre ensemble
le dialogue nécessaire au bon vivre ensemble


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## Kelly B

I suppose that something like _peaceful coexistence_ would fit in those, but no, I don't think there's really a set phrase that will fit all contexts.


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## Maped40

Really? It's quite a fashionable political slogan here in France, they all seem to have something to say about "le vivre ensemble"... It means different groups living together peacefully in a pluralistic society


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## Gutenberg

and that is: good cohabitation


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## Jamhead

"living in harmony" is a good way to say it i think. Good Cohabitation sounds to me a bit too political for what this person is looking for.


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## Maped40

Thank you all.

The same phrase comes up again...
s'engager pour le *vivre ensemble*
Just to complete what was said before:
I found an interesting phrase: "community harmony" (some UK cities have awards for people who help promote "community harmony")

What bothers me is that this suggests communities living side by side, rather than actually intermingling (which is what my text advocates). Can anyone suggest a better phrase?


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## in-need

Hello!

I was wondering whether since this 2008 thread, a set phrase or, if not, other suggestions had came to anybody's mind about "le vivre ensemble" (noun)?

I am currently questioning myself in the following terms:
La diversité culturelle peut-elle être constitutive d'un vivre ensemble pacifié?

et là, je sèche! If there is no set phrase or elegant way to express it in Eng, then I will consider reformulating the whole sentence, but well, je tente...

Thank you all! )


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## Aistriúchán

Hi!

_the 'living together'_

I'd translate: _Can cultural diversity involve a shared desire to live together in peace ?_


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## Wodwo

This is one of those phrases that is the bane of my life.

I'm thinking of 'harmony in diversity' at the moment. If anyone has any better ideas I'd be really pleased to see them...


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## pointvirgule

in-need said:


> La diversité culturelle peut-elle être constitutive d'un vivre ensemble pacifié?


In this case, I'd go with Kelly B's earlier suggestion:

_Can cultural diversity allow for peaceful coexistence?_


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## Jerh Shea

Has anyone suggested "Togetherness" or, perhaps, "the experience of togetherness"?


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## Wodwo

I think 'togetherness' is more a term applied to families or couples. It might work in some contexts, but mine is an academic paper in the social sciences and it's talking about people from different backgrounds getting on with each other in a multicultural city.

'Cultural diversity' is kind of used in this way in my kind of dry context I think - London is often described as 'culturally diverse' - but 'diversity', like 'coexistence', fails to stress the idea that the diverse people interact and share the space in a positive way, which is I think conveyed by 'vivre ensemble'.


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## pointvirgule

I think you're reading too much into that _vivre-ensemble_ concept. A community is not a commune... People who are strangers to each other (be them from the same or from different ethnic backgrounds) don't live *together*, they live *next to* each other. The only thing they really do _together _is sharing the space. _Le vivre-ensemble_ conveys the idea of doing so in a non-conflictual way, is all. For that reason, I feel that _peaceful coexistence_ fits the bill.


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## Wodwo

Well it's one of those phrases, like 'cultural diversity', which can be emphasized in different ways. In my context, I think it's more active than that. Here's the phrase:

'une exigence démocratique et un rempart contre le principe de sous-nationalités, destructeur de l’essence même du vivre ensemble urbain.'

The idea of sub-nationalities - nations within a nation - is surely precisely about coexistence, but here the suggestion is that the coexistence of different groups (in this case immigrants who are not full citizens) with different identities works against 'le vivre ensemble'. So I think in this particular case something a bit more active than 'peaceful coexistence' is required. The author is talking about giving the right to vote to people who are residents of a city but not citizens of the country.


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## Jimbeck

Is 'conviviality' too strong in this context?


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## Wodwo

To me conviviality is something completely different, it's what you get at a big dinner, where people who maybe don't know each other that well eat, drink and are merry together.

It reminds me of being at a wine festival in Cologne packed with happy people talking very loudly and having a jolly time.

I think there are probably different ways of translating 'le vivre-ensemble', from 'peaceful coexistence' to 'sharing the space' and even 'cultural diversity'. It depends on the context and target audience. Sometimes the best thing to do is probably rework the sentence so you don't have to use a noun at all.


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## Jimbeck

Yes, that's why I wondered if the term was too strong. But I note that Paul Gilroy uses 'conviviality' in his _Postcolonial Melancholia_ (2005: xv) to refer to “the processes of cohabitation and interaction that have made multiculture an ordinary feature of social life in Britain’s urban areas and in postcolonial cities elsewhere”. Could this be one, admittedly special, meaning of 'le vivre ensemble'?​


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## Maped40

Very interesting! This is exactly how one would define "le vivre-ensemble", isn't it.
Now, would "conviviality" be used in this meaning in everyday language, and would it be understood if used outside a scholarly context?


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## Wodwo

Jimbeck said:


> I note that Paul Gilroy uses 'conviviality' in his _Postcolonial Melancholia_ (2005: xv) to refer to “the processes of cohabitation and interaction that have made multiculture an ordinary feature of social life in Britain’s urban areas and in postcolonial cities elsewhere”. Could this be one, admittedly special, meaning of 'le vivre ensemble'?



Well your quote suggests that Gilroy is using 'conviviality' in the same way as 'vivre-ensemble', yes. He's probably been reading French sociology - or maybe it's the other way round... So it may have some currency in this context, though, as you suggest he has to define it, I would say its currency is limited. En passant, that's the first use I've ever seen of the term 'multiculture' too.

I would still avoid 'conviviality' for 'le vivre-ensemble' myself, if possible, because of its connotations of partying, which I think are too strong. Maybe Gilroy likes them.

But to answer Maped40, absolutely not. Outside academic journals, 'conviviality' will take you straight back to lots of slightly drunk people enjoying themselves.


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## Jimbeck

It would certainly be appropriately used in the context of, say, the Notting Hill Carnival where ethnic and cultural diversity is publicly celebrated along with eating and drinking.  My hunch is that Gilroy is figuratively extending the meaning of conviviality to reach other settings not necessarily characterised by festive eating and drinking.  But it remains a scholarly usage.


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## Wodwo

Yes, but if you're talking about the 'conviviality' of the Notting Hill Carnival, you aren't saying anything about ethnic and cultural diversity, you're just saying everyone got along at this particular festive event, got a bit high on whatever was going and had a good time. Everyone who is aware of the carnival would be aware of the multicultural dimension to this good cheer, but an anglophone who knew nothing of the event would just understand that it was a big party with a lot of people eating, drinking and talking very loudly. 

The emphasis of 'le vivre-ensemble' is completely different - it's about sharing a space and getting along. I think you're right about what Gilroy is doing, and of course etymologically 'con-viviality' is about living together, but yes, a scholarly usage and a bit of a stretch in my view.


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## gibouille

What we mean by "vivre-ensemble" at school is the fact that children learn one specific skill, the "vivre-ensemble" which implies efficient and respectfull  group interaction, allowing every individual to safely find their correct place in the community.

I'm still looking for a good translation 

I came up with :


Togetherness 
Group interaction 
Social harmony 
Respectful interaction 
But it doesn't quite cut it


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## gibouille

Social skills


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## Wodwo

gibouille said:


> Social skills



Yes, I think 'social skills' sounds pretty good in this context. It's less idealistic and all-encompassing than the French, but then English tends to be. It covers 'respectful interaction' and once you've got that, you're well on the way to the rest.


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## daniela venezia

"le vivre ensemble" means living together with other groups, communities; it's not simply "live together". for example you'd say one of the most important thing to favour le vivre ensemble is respect and tolerance towards the other. thank you for giving me the right phrase.


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## tellect

Bonjour et bienvenue au forum

Le mot "togetherness" conviendrait-il ?


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## Pierre-Luc

Why not keeping it in french?
Personnellement, j'ai décidé d'utiliser le terme en français dans mes articles (le terme "vivre-ensemble" est très utilisé dans le milieu de la politique: philo, socio, s-po etc.).
Je crois que c'est la meilleure solution dans le contexte actuel.
Cela donne donc quelque chose comme: "this norm aims to regulate the _vivre-ensemble_".
In my field (philo), this is accepted really well!
It's a suggestion.


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## Wodwo

I suppose that might work in context (though I must say the idea of 'regulating the _vivre-ensemble_ is pretty opaque to me, unless it means something like 'regulating the way that different kinds of people interact on a daily basis'), but I see you are in Canada, where there is a degree of familiarity with French that you can't always assume English speakers and readers will have.

I don't believe that there are ideas that can only be thought or expressed in a particular language, but languages do package thoughts differently. So it's unlikely we'll find a noun equivalent of 'le vivre-ensemble' in English, but you can always turn ideas round and use a verb phrase instead.


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## gibouille

To me "le vivre ensemble " is not so much the way people interact, but the set of abilities that people need to obtain before they can interact in a way that is sufficiently acceptable in a certain society.

It's not interaction itself but the standards of interaction expected from a sane and educated person. It's a skill that needs to be trained.


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## Wodwo

gibouille said:


> It's not interaction itself but the standards of interaction expected from a sane and educated person. It's a skill that needs to be trained.


Sure, but if you're regulating it, doesn't that imply that it doesn't always happen as it should - so you are regulating the interaction between people, which may or may not manifest the qualities of 'vivre-ensemble'?

I think we can get a bit hung up on particular words to the exclusion of the overall meaning.


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## delaterre

Oooo, this phrase!

Its meaning today flows from particular contemporary debates about French nationality. When politicians use the phrase "vivre ensemble," they are referring to a concept that is often spoken of alongside fraternity and "mixité," another buzzword that means something like diversity but that does NOT carry with it the multicultural connotations an American or Canadian might assume (mixité is less about embracing difference and more about seeing the Frenchness in everyone regardless of differences).

Remember, "peaceful coexistence" (a possible translation someone mentioned) in the French republican model is NOT multicultural. It is premised on the ideal of a SINGLE national community that is, in theory, universal and open to all who embrace French republican and enlightenment ideals. The acknowledgement of differences is seen as dangerous and balkanizing.

When the 2010 ban on facial coverings was passed, the ultimate legal justification was that covering the face in public is a rejection of "vivre ensemble," and hence a rejection of the very social glue that binds French society (and, therefore, a threat to public order; and even individual freedoms can be violated if they pose a threat to public order). Folks can argue about the truthfulness of that claim, but I'm just explaining a contemporary usage of the expression. As you can see in this particular use, vivre ensemble means living together with others in French society while also embracing core French ideological commitments. That's where the "harmony" connotation comes from - French Muslims in burqas were assumed by many politicians to be rejecting French values (that's disharmonious). That's ALSO where the connotation of "standards" gbiouille talks about comes from - it is a standard expectation that in France, your face is uncovered for the world to see.

Basically, it is an expression with a lot of meaning. Imagine if you had to translate the US usage of "ghetto" before it became globally familiar. You'd have to specify it doesn't refer in that context to the historical expression for a Jewish neighborhood; you'd have to explain that it can be derogatory but can also be a badge of pride in complicated ways; you'd have to explain it is related to economics but is also racialized, and that it has to do with the US history of racism, housing segregation, white flight... you wouldn't translate it in one word. You just couldn't.

When I have to "translate" vivre ensemble into english, I give a literal translation then explain the social significance of the phrase. I do not want to cheat readers out of its full meaning. Especially since it is such a political buzzword!


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## Mauricet

C'est une excellente explication de _le vivre ensemble_ au sens politique dans le contexte français.

Mais _le vivre ensemble_, au sens plus général (cf Gibouille), c'est tout ce qui permet la vie collective sans violence. Et ça n'a à peu près rien à voir, dans cet emploi du mot, avec la cohabitation entre groupes d'origines différentes : même entre Dupont et Dupond et Tintin, Tournesol et le capitaine Haddock, pour ne pas en venir aux mains quand on n'est pas d'accord, il faut tout un arsenal de savoir-faire, de savoir-être, de techniques de communication et de gestion des conflits, qui peuvent faire l'objet d'un apprentissage. 

On parle dans ce cas d'une _formation au vivre ensemble_. Quand on parle de l'école, c'est probablement de ça qu'il s'agit ...


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## heleneglobetrotter

Mais alors selon la dernière définition de Mauricet, on en revient aux 'social skills', non ?
Je ne suis pas sûre que ce soit suffisant, étant donné que la formation au 'vivre ensemble' dans le contexte scolaire s'incrit dans l'apprentissage de la citoyenneté et tout le jargon qui va avec. 

Plus précisément, dans mon cas, je dois traduire le 'vivre ensemble' dans la phrase suivante :

_De manière générale, la finalité est de préparer les enfants à participer le mieux possible à la vie démocratique, en assumant et en exerçant leurs droits et leurs devoirs de citoyen et en les préparant au « *vivre ensemble *»._ 

Je suis allée pêcher tous les termes proposés dans cette dicussion, les voici. Je vais en choisir un, ajouter "le vivre ensemble" en français entre parenthèses, et peut-être même mettre une petite 'note de la traductrice' en plus.

coexistence of people, live together, community life, live together in harmony, community harmony, good cohabitation, harmony in diversity,  peaceful coexistence, sharing the space, cultural diversity, Togetherness, Group interaction, Social harmony, respectful interaction, social skills, ...

However, any useful suggestion would be welcome


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## Itisi

I don't suppose 'life in society' stands a chance...?


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## Wodwo

Itisi said:


> I don't suppose 'life in society' stands a chance...?



It does with me. I was just thinking the same thing. I think it would be fine in some contexts, though not all.


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## heleneglobetrotter

I like it in my context, thanks!
 After getting away from my work for a little while, I have come to the conclusion that this is exactly what the author meant, and 'le vivre ensemble' just sounded more in fashion than 'la vie en société'...


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## Gil

More:
harmonious social interactions


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## gibouille

Le vivre ensemble ça peut être aussi varié que :

Dire bonjour, laisser parler l'autre, savoir faire la queue, ne pas bousculer, ne pas laisser son chien faire ses besoins n'importe ou, ne pas faire de tapage nocturne mais ne pas forcément non plus appeler la police directement dés que le voisin fait un peu de bruit, ne pas fumer dans des lieux publics y compris quand ca n'est pas expressément interdit... finalement c'est faire attention à l'autre.

Simplement en français c'est quelque chose qu'on considère comme une compétence qu'il faut acquérir et qu'on peut éventuellement devoir évaluer, par exemple à l'école (vie scolaire).

C'est "social skills" mais avec l'idée que ca n'est pas inné, ca s'apprend, ca peut nécessiter un dressage.

Après c'est vrai que la dimension interculturelle est plus ou moins sous entendue.


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## Wodwo

gibouille said:


> C'est "social skills" mais avec l'idée que ca n'est pas inné, ca s'apprend.



The term "social *skills*" also implies something learned, to my ear anyway. 

It seems like "le vivre-ensemble" translates differently in different contexts, just as the English word "chair" must be either a chaise or a fauteuil.


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## auptitgallo

I'm probably being hopelessly simplistic (or just downright wrong), but I thought that in most circumstances you could translate the concept of "le vivre-ensemble" into English as 'social cohesion'.


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## gibouille

Social cohesion is a result of people exercising their "vivre ensemble" .

"Vivre ensemble" is something that you learn and practice, social cohesion is the long-term benefit.


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## C4PR1C0RNUS

Just stumbled across this thread - what a nightmare! I think perhaps "*social cohesion*" would work best, at least in political/sociological contexts. 

To wit: this abstract from the Canadian Journal of Sociology (http://www.jstor.org/stable/3341872?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents) which gives a French-English bilingual definition of social cohesion that seems pretty close to what the French mean by vivre-ensemble.


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## Aristide

I think the best translation of "le vivre ensemble" is "the living together", whether it's good English or not.
You have to realize that "le vivre ensemble" is not proper French either.

That phrase is aggressively pushed by the government and the media. It makes me think of the words invented by Orwell in his novel 1984: goodthink, crimethink, doublethink. 

It is coded language. What it means is living together with non-whites, whether you like it or not. It's the same as the word diversity. But "le vivre ensemble" sounds even more threatening to me than diversity.


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## Chimel

Il n'y a aucune raison de donner à cette expression une connotation politique (et péjorative) aussi marquée. Le vivre ensemble peut aussi désigner la cohabitation harmonieuse entre les générations, par exemple. C'est le cas de projets d'habitat groupé et intergénérationnel (des personnes vieillissantes rendent service à de jeunes familles et vice-versa): on parle là aussi de favoriser le "vivre ensemble", de même que pour des projets d'intégration de personnes handicapées dans le milieu scolaire ou professionnel.

Quant à dire que ce n'est pas du "proper French"... Si: c'est du français contemporain, formé sur le même modèle que des expressions passées dans l'usage comme: le savoir-vivre, le savoir-faire, le mieux-être...


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## Aristide

Chimel said:


> Le vivre ensemble peut aussi désigner la cohabitation harmonieuse entre les générations, par exemple.


Exactement. Ça peut aussi désigner la cohabitation entre poissons dans un aquarium. Dans le même ordre d'idées, on pourrait dire, sans aucune arrière-pensée politique, que la diversité est la plus grande force d'un aquarium. Par contre, je n'ai jamais entendu l'expression "mieux-être" (ni pire-être).


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## Hildy1

gibouille said:


> Le vivre ensemble ca peut être aussi varié que :
> 
> Dire bonjour, laisser parler l'autre, savoir faire la queue, ne pas bousculer, ne pas laisser son chien faire ses besoins n'importe ou, ne pas faire de tapage nocturne mais ne pas forcément non plus appeler la police directement dés que le voisin fait un peu de bruit, ne pas fumer dans des lieux publics y compris quand ca n'est pas expressément interdit... finalement c'est faire attention à l'autre.



That sounds like plain old "good manners", which indeed children learn, or should learn, at home and at school.


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## Chimel

To me, _le_ _vivre ensemble_ is pretty close to _la cohabitation harmonieuse. _The "good manners" you are referring to are one of the elements of it, but it is way broader.


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## joelooc

Si je ne craignais pas  (et en fait je ne le crains pas) d'être accusé de stigmatiser quelque communauté que ce soit, je parlerais de _mauvaise foi_.
Il est clair que dans l'introduction de l'expression consensuelle du_ vivre ensemble_ il y a, de manière sous-jacente, la notion d'_évitement de conflit_ (à savoir le déni de la forme primitive de la nature humaine). Le fait que ce soit dans l'espace relativement clos d'un aquarium ou relativement illimité d'un univers globalisé ne change rien à la réalité.

Donner la priorité à _togetherness_ (la très judéo-chrétienne _convivialité_) équivaut à occulter la notion de _territorialité _comme si vivre ensemble ne signifiait pas vivre quelque part. Si je voulais faire de la provocation je soufflerais le très international  _lebensraum (_talk about avoiding conflicts_)_.

Je pense que progresser dans cette défintion passe par une réflexion qui n'exclut pas les composantes: _share/social/space/territory._


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## wildan1

_The live-together_ rings no bells in my English-speaking ear, Aristide, sorry. Grammatically, it is not something we would say.

_One big, happy family_ might work here, with a touch of sarcasm it would suggest in the context of a political campaign.


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## Aristide

> "rings no bells in my English-speaking ear" / "not something we would say"


"Le vivre ensemble" is not something normal people would say in private conversation either. I should've used the copyright symbol next to "le vivre ensemble", and not to "live-together", which doesn't exist.

Le vivre ensemble is a kind of euphemism to convey a political message (diversity and all that). It also sounds like administrative/bureaucratic language (like saying "groupe scolaire" instead of "école", and "complexe sportif" instead of "salle de sport"). When you hear that phrase, it probably comes from a politician, from the local "bulletin municipal", or from politicized journalists.

So, it's not another way to refer to harmonious social life and plain old "good manners". Otherwise, you would just say "good manners". It has political connotations.

Instead of "good manners", a socialist may also say that you have to be a "good citizen". Here too, there are political connotations. A royalist will not speak like that. He will simply say that you need to have "good manners".


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## Hildy1

How about:
good citizenship
civic spirit
civic virtue
being a good citizen
being a good neighbour


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## Aristide

_"good citizenship"_

Yes, but what the word "ensemble/together" implicitly means is living together between people of different races/ethnicities. And that aspect of the question is lost if you just say good citizenship.

Chimel said that you can use "le vivre ensemble" to talk about relations between young and old people. He's right, but the phrase was really invented to implicitly refer to interethnic/interracial relations.

It's the same as "mixité sociale". It's supposed to mean social mixing between the rich and the poor. But it is usually used as a euphemism for racial mixing.


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## Chimel

Juste pour info, je tombe par hasard sur ce résumé d'un film récent ("Nous trois ou rien"): [...] nous raconte le destin hors du commun de ses parents, éternels optimistes, dans une comédie aux airs de conte universel qui évoque l’amour familial, le don de soi et surtout *l’idéal d’un vivre ensemble*".

Quand je l'aurai vu, je vous dirai si c'est un vivre ensemble "ethnique" ou non... Mais en tout cas, ça ne vient pas d'un bulletin municipal ou d'un organe gouvernemental.


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## Brestoise

Ah... Le "vivre-ensemble", vaste sujet...

Personnellement, je trouve très juste l'explication détaillée de Delaterre.
J'ajouterai que, pour moi, derrière l'expression "vivre-ensemble", il y a l'idée d'un sentiment d'appartenance à un(e) pays/ville/quartier qui transcenderait les différences culturelles/sociales/d'âge (etc...). Cela se traduirait notamment (mais pas seulement) par un ensemble de valeurs et de règles de savoir-vivre partagées.
Quant à savoir s'il s'agit là d'une réalité, d'un objectif à accomplir, d'un idéal à poursuivre (ou à fuir) ou de simple verbiage creux de politicien... A chacun de se faire son opinion...

Bref, "peaceful coexistence" ne convient pas: On perd l'idée de sentiment d'appartenance, de cohésion.
"Good manners" et "social skills" ne marchent pas non plus: les bonnes manières sont les applications du "vivre-ensemble" dans la vie de tous les jours, pas le "vivre ensemble" lui-même.

Je pense que, comme expliqué par Delaterre, l'expression est difficile à traduire car les visions française et anglo-saxonne du multiculturalisme sont très différentes. En Amérique, le maître-mot du mutliculturalime réussi, c'est "cohabitation". En France, c'est "intégration".
Pour faire un parallèle avec la peinture: En Amérique, avec trois couleurs, on applique chaque couleur par touches pour obtenir une peinture forte et harmonieuse. En France, on fond les couleurs les unes dans les autres pour obtenir un beau dégradé aux nuances multiples (enfin on essaie, en tous cas).

Je pense que Gil avec "harmonious social interaction" et Auptitgallo avec "social cohesion" sont probablement sur la bonne voie...


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## lisettelit

My first thought upon reading a few explanations was also "social cohesion." Since someone clarified that "social cohesion" is the outcome while "la vivre-ensemble" is what it takes to achieve said outcome, my next thought was to translate it as "the _dream_ of social cohesion" or "shared ideals of social cohesion" or something else that puts it further into the conceptual realm.


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## Reynald

Entièrement d'accord avec les explications d'Aristide. L'expression trouve bien son origine (en France, en tout cas) dans le verbiage politicien, repris par les journalistes, avec tous les sous-entendus évoqués. D'ailleurs, c'est précisément au moment où la cohabitation de populations immigrées ou descendantes d'immigrés récents avec les "autochtones" a commencé à poser des problèmes que l'expression s'est répandue ; au moment où a commencé la fuite des banlieues par les "autochtones" qui pouvaient se le permettre.

Que l'expression ait ensuite été employée à propos de la famile et autres situations de coexistence, c'est vrai. C'est même un peu devenu un automatisme journalistique à propos de n'importe quelle situation où des gens sont amenés à se côtoyer.

Mais dans le cas de la traduction d'un article traitant de sociologie, de démographie, de politique... je pense que les indications fournies par Aristide devraient être prises en compte.


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## Aristide

J'en reviens au message numéro 1: _there is surely a set phrase in English for "le vivre ensemble" in the sense of good relations between the various groups or communities in a society? _

Je propose: multicultural happiness, ou encore: multicultural paradise

Mais pour en revenir à mes récriminations, je pense qu'en soi-même, "le vivre ensemble" devrait seulement désigner le fait de vivre ensemble. Ce serait le contraire de "le vivre chacun chez soi". Ça ne devrait pas plus désigner une cohabitation harmonieuse qu'une cohabitation difficile. Exemple: construire une maison sans aucune cloison, pour favoriser le vivre ensemble (ça risque d'être chaotique).

Et en fait, quand on nous parle de l'idéal du "vivre ensemble", ce serait plus exact de parler de l'idéal du "faire vivre ensemble", c'est à dire faire vivre les autres ensemble.


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## Wodwo

Back again with a spanner to throw into the works.

Beneath the title: "mission vivre ensemble" I find:
"une démarche concrète de *lutte contre les discriminations économiques et sociales *dans le domaine de la culture."

So here it seems "vivre ensemble" (no hyphen) is being used to refer to what in English we might call the fight against discrimination. I really can't think of a catchy or brief way to sum this up.

PS: in case any of you are interested, I've gone for "access for all", which is more in tune with the bit in bold than the "vivre ensemble" bit. If anyone has any English-sounding ideas (I'm not in favour of bizarre neologisms or keeping it in French on the assumption that English speakers who have chosen to read a translation will somehow perceive the subtleties of this particularly opaque concept if it's expressed in a language they don't understand) I would be grateful.


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## Sylenne

Dans les textes portant sur la ville et l'urbanisation en général, on trouve souvent le terme "interactive lifestyle" et "community interaction" qui, peut-être, sous-entendent l'idée de vivre ensemble de façon harmonieuse.


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## H.E. Lutwyche

As my first foray into making suggestions, I offer "healthy communities" or "healthy community life".


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## Language Hound

Living in harmony?


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## LART01

Hi
Sense of belonging?
Community belonging?


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## Louis XI

In English, this notion is often expressed by _community life, sense of community_ or simply _community_, depending on context.


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## Malcius

I've come across "Vivre ensemble" as a subject heading in a Monegascan school report. Based on the above, I'm wondering about "community studies" or "living in community". I had wondered about "Civics" but there is already EMC (Enseignement Moral et Civique) as part of a heading "Géographie-Histoire-EMC" and I have translated that as "Civics".


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## Wodwo

It would depend very much on what is being referred to in the report. Firstly, are you sure it refers to a particular subject (and not, say, a child's social interactions within the school)? And if you are, you need to have an idea of the content of the course. "Civics", to me at least, suggests knowing how the society is organised - the importance of voting, the different levels of government, the separation of the legislative, executive and judiciary powers, that kind of thing. "Vivre ensemble" could be about those things, but then again, it might not...


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## Malcius

Thanks. It appears under the list of "matières". There is no grade but there is a comment "Elève sérieuse et appliquée. Bonne participation en classe". There is no indication of content.

EDIT: I appreciate that the comment is not much help in determining whether it is a specific subject or general behaviour at school.


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## Wodwo

It does sound like how the child behaves in class, which is an aspect of "vivre ensemble" in a school. That seems more likely than that it's a subject if the other subjects are all graded. I think you'd have to compare the comments under the different categories and see if it's unusual. 

But if you can ask your client or whoever sent you the report for translation, that is probably the simplest way to solve the problem.


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## Malcius

The client has confirmed that it is indeed a general comment. I think I might go for something like "School life".


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## Topsie

Or "social interaction (behaviour)" perhaps 
Teach social interaction skills


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## Aristide

"Vivre ensemble" is deliberately ambiguous. The expression has been promoted since the 1990s by pro-immigration activists in the government and the media to convey the idea that we need peaceful coexistence, even if it is forced coexistence. If you don't want any of their "vivre ensemble", it means you are against peaceful coexistence and you are a problem. But they now use the same expression to refer to the ideal of social good will in general, even in an all-white environment.

The phrase "*community life*" has been suggested in the thread. It is a much older expression than "le vivre ensemble", but in the past decades, it has probably acquired new connotations connected to the immigration situation. Any mention of "le vivre ensemble" makes me wince. If some English speakers also tense up when they hear "community life", it would mean that is is an acceptable translation of "le vivre ensemble".


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## Wodwo

I've just accidentally read the previous page of this thread. The school use of "vivre ensemble" is mentioned in contribution #24.

On which basis, I reckon Topsie's "Social interaction" would work. Presumably, as this is a report, it's a general comment about the how the particular child fits in and behaves, rather than about the community life of the school.

That said (and as Topsie indicates), it's almost certainly what used to be referred to as "behaviour", but perhaps no longer is. We need a teacher to confirm.


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