Fabien Escalona is a journalist for Mediapart and the author of La reconversion partisane de la social-démocratie européenne.
France has just seen the third resignation of a prime minister in less than a year. What is at stake is not merely short-term instability — it is a crisis of the entire Fifth Republic political regime as it enters a new phase in its history.
Emmanuel Macron’s party has accused an “incendiary” left of stirring up violent protests after the police murder of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk. For left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the problem is the government’s failure to rein in unaccountable police.
The French left made gains in spring’s elections — but it did much better in big cities than in deindustrialized areas. Debates in France Insoumise have highlighted the need to win back the older working class without giving up on political radicalism.
In the 1980s, François Mitterrand brought the French Socialists to power. A generation later, they’re in danger of extinction — and they brought it upon themselves.
Forty years ago today, François Mitterrand became the first socialist president of France’s Fifth Republic. But after his early attempt at left-wing reforms was defeated, Mitterrand’s tenure helped turn the Parti Socialiste into a pillar of the political establishment.