After a month of occupations, France’s Nuit Debout movement is beginning to confront crucial questions about its political goals and how to move forward. Among other issues, debates have developed over horizontalism, how to broaden the movement’s base, and its relationship to established trade unions. Both the future of the “El Khomri law” — which seeks to severely weaken France’s labor code — and the fate of the country’s left more generally are at stake.

In this interview, translated by David Broder, Stathis Kouvelakis talks with economist Frédéric Lordon about the origins and future of the Nuit Debout movement.