After much relaxing, bathing at the beach, watching TV, making s'mores (at least a tasty, French approximation of the American classic) and sleeping, I feel that perhaps it might be time for me to venture en ville. Not only will libraries be open (for a brief time), but I also have been informed of CIMADE's branch in Montpellier. While they focus more on handling the rights of migrants within France, they have devoted a significant portion of their webpage (at least) to development issues. I feel that my research *in* France should reflect issues relevant in France to derive the most value from my travel. At the same time, I'm more interested (now) in the concept of mutual codevelopment and its efficacy in both the reduction of illegal immigration into France and the quantifiable amelioration of living conditions in countries of origin.
Other than the government's explicit commitment in its développement solidaire branch of the Ministry of Immigration, I have discovered there are numerous NGOs (as I should have guessed) who have partnered to better aid the development of countries of origin. One thing I'd be interested in investigating is the extent to which these NGOs influence the Ministry of Immigration's plans for codevelopment. I can guess that it's quite a lot, for a conference regarding the launch of envoidargent.fr (a government sponsored legitimization of remittances website) is being held at the Agence Française du Développement offices in Paris.
At any rate, I question how much work I can really get done today (other than a bit of reading) because the World Cup matches beckon. For today's results I guess Brazil and Uruguay but it would be nice if the Netherlands or Ghana managed to pull of a win (especially for Ghana, it being an African country and all). I can only hope that after this weekend I will emerge resolute in my efforts to truly accomplish some meaningful research here, and I hope to start by dropping by the CIMADE office here in Montpellier to find the best ways to get in touch with the right people.
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