He described the nation as “a vast solidarity, constituted by the sentiment of the sacrifices one has made and of those one is yet prepared to make.” A national project, for Renan, “presupposes a past,” but is “summarized in the present by a tangible fact: consent, the clearly expressed desire to continue a common life.” It is that “common life” with which we are at risk of losing touch. Renan famously described the nation as “an everyday plebiscite.” And it must now be renewed.
