France’s Police Unions Are Throwing Their Weight Around
Amid protests in France, police unions are pushing for wage hikes and special legal privileges to cash in on the political capital they’ve built under Emmanuel Macron’s rule.
109 Article(s) by: Harrison Stetler
Harrison Stetler is a freelance journalist and teacher based in Paris.
France’s Protests Fuel a Wider Fight Over Europe’s Future
European authorities want France’s next government to cut welfare. It’s a stand for the same budget orthodoxies that have fueled current protests, and that have collapsed support for the liberal center ground.
The Vendetta Against Gino Has Nothing to Do With Justice
Hungary’s hard-right premier Viktor Orbán is no longer in power. But he’s getting a belated victory as activist Rexhino Abazaj, known as Gino, is being extradited for trial over an alleged attack on fascists in Budapest.
Donald Trump Is on a Mining Offensive in DR Congo
The Trump administration wants a new sphere of influence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. US businesses are already rushing in, but many locals insist their mineral wealth should be for the Congolese themselves.
Criminalizing “From the River to the Sea”
A new bill in France would criminalize slogans said to call for the destruction of Israel. In the name of combating antisemitism, establishment political forces want to muzzle criticism of Israel’s apartheid order.
A Missed Opportunity for the French Left
First-round results suggest the French left can hold its ground in this month’s local elections. This positive outcome comes despite a campaign defined by an acrimonious civil war between the center-left establishment and France Insoumise.
In France, the Far Right Has Its Martyr
French far-right activist Quentin Deranque has died from injuries sustained in a street battle with anti-fascist activists. Conservative media is using his death to whip up a moral panic about France Insoumise, painting it as a violent insurgent threat.
Far-Right Billionaire Vincent Bolloré Returns to Africa
Billionaire Vincent Bolloré is known for his use of his media empire to promote Islamophobic pundits in France. Now the corporation he controls is buying up TV broadcasting and film across Africa.
How Marine Le Pen Seduced Corporate France
Emmanuel Macron has been a president for the rich, but his faltering support has also left big business unsure if it can rely on his party. For many French capitalists, the answer is to build up ties with Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National.
Emmanuel Macron Doubles Down on Austerity
France’s new prime minister has resisted calls to suspend Emmanuel Macron’s 2023 pension reform. While left-wing opposition parties want to undo Macron’s agenda, the president is defending his attacks on welfare as a prized legacy.
France’s Dead-End War on Crime
Crime in France has been on the decline for decades, especially among minors. But a moral panic about wayward youth is feeding legislation designed to jail more young offenders.
For Bertolt Brecht, War Isn’t Humanity’s Eternal Fate
With Europe in ruins in 1945, Bertolt Brecht wrote that war “has been discredited for some time to come.” That period seems to be meeting its end, as European states push a new era of rearmament.
France’s Government Promises More Work, Fewer Holidays
After raising the pension age and cutting taxes on the rich, now Emmanuel Macron’s government wants to scrap the Easter Monday and VE Day bank holidays. The plan is sure to face stiff resistance, with French workers unwilling to swallow further austerity.
Zohran Mamdani Can Learn From Paris’s Housing Victories
As Paris’s deputy mayor, Ian Brossat massively expanded the French capital’s public housing stock. He spoke to Jacobin about the left-wing city hall’s record and what lessons it might have for Zohran Mamdani in New York.
Emmanuel Macron’s Bid to Divide the Left Is Paying Off
One year since the New Popular Front won a surprise election victory, France’s left looks more divided than ever. This month’s Socialist congress showed how much the party is at loggerheads with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Insoumise.
France Can’t Ban Solidarity With Palestine
Emmanuel Macron’s government is calling for a ban on one of France’s largest Palestine solidarity campaigns. The proposal is repression of free speech — and makes a mockery of Macron’s attempt to sound more critical of Israeli crimes.
Debt, a Tool for Crushing Democracy
The European Union has reimposed tight limits on states’ budget deficits — but with exemptions for military spending. After years of claims that austerity was over, we’re now seeing it used selectively to put limits on democratic choice.
In France, the Collective Denial of Islamophobia Is Deadly
A stabbing at a southern French mosque last Friday sparked terror and protest among France’s Muslims. Yet many top politicians refuse to speak of “Islamophobia,” instead leaning into far-right narratives of the Islamic danger to France.
The Other Multibillionaire Courting Trump
Europe’s wealthiest individual, Bernard Arnault, is head of luxury goods empire LVMH — and has a lot to lose from a spiraling global trade war. His reported direct line to the Trump administration shows how the superrich are working to defend their billions.
French Pensions Face Squeeze From Defense Budget Hikes
French premier François Bayrou survived a confidence vote in February after promising fresh talks over pension age rise. But no change has been forthcoming — and calls for increased defense spending are pressuring pensions even further.