Harrison Stetler is a freelance journalist and teacher based in Paris.
France’s president called snap elections to show the country was still behind him. It backfired massively — and last night’s first-round results suggest Marine Le Pen’s far right will dominate the new parliament.
The manifesto launch for Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National showed how far the party has dropped its welfarist promises. The far right is vaunting its pro-business credentials — and part of France’s corporate elite is warming to its message.
In France, the left-wing parties have allied in a Nouveau Front Populaire, challenging both Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. France Insoumise MP Clémence Guetté told Jacobin about its potential path to victory.
The New Popular Front represents the French left’s best chance to block Marine Le Pen’s path. But a purge of candidates in its biggest force, France Insoumise, is troubling its ranks — and highlights the need for more democratic decision-making.
France’s snap elections are widely seen as an opportunity for Marine Le Pen’s far right. But the left-wing parties’ Nouveau Front Populaire has a real possibility of stopping her — and it’s laid out a radical program to rebuild France’s dilapidated democracy.
After his allies scored just 15% in the European elections, last night Emmanuel Macron called a snap election for the French parliament. It’ll pave the way for a new government — and it could raise Marine Le Pen’s party to power for the first time.
France’s Parti Socialiste is on the rise ahead of the EU elections, under lead candidate Raphaël Glucksmann. He’s appealing to disappointed Macron voters — but his campaign is also squarely aimed at killing off the alliance of France’s left-wing parties.
In France, student protests for Gaza have faced police repression and dire legal threats. But discussion is also being suppressed by the academic establishment, pushing a dogma of political neutrality that makes a mockery of its commitment to free inquiry.
France Insoumise election candidate Rima Hassan has received a police summons over possible “apology for terrorism” charges. She’s the latest of a string of pro-Palestine activists to face inquiries, in a blatant judicial offensive against Israel’s critics.
Even as the Biden administration vetoes Palestinian statehood, several European states are moving toward full recognition. Their dissent is a welcome crack in the West’s pro-Israel line — but they should back it up with sanctions to punish Israeli apartheid.
Ahead of June’s European elections, the French left is divided over Gaza. Rima Hassan, a Franco-Palestinian jurist and activist standing for France Insoumise, tells Jacobin why it’s shameful for left-wingers to fail to defend Palestinians’ rights.
French start-up Mistral was billed to lead Europe’s charge in the global AI market — until last month, when it sealed a partnership with Microsoft. Hopes of the EU regulating the sector are crashing up against the sheer power of monopolies.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, suggested on Monday that sending Western troops to Ukraine can “no longer be ruled out.” The idea is dangerous and impractical.
On Thursday, European leaders released another €50 billion in funding for Ukraine. The funds are a lifeline for the Ukrainian military — but waning US support and the stalemate on the front line are chipping away at Europe’s commitment to Kyiv.
France’s parliament passed a migration bill limiting birthright citizenship, but on Thursday the Constitutional Court struck down parts of the law. Some pro-government figures call this a good compromise — recklessly relying on judges to correct MPs’ votes.
On Monday, Emmanuel Macron’s government lost a vote on a new immigration law, as right-wing parties demanded even tighter limits. Faced with a harshening political climate, France’s 700,000 undocumented workers have little hope of gaining regular status.
France’s top court has thrown out a ban on the ecological group Earth Uprisings. The interior minister labeled the group “terroristic” for its attacks on property — but its actions are a response to the government’s own criminal inaction on the climate crisis.
The war in Gaza has again shown the West’s capacity for selective indignation. France Insoumise MP Arnaud Le Gall told Jacobin why it’s time to end the “clash of civilizations” narrative — and adopt an internationalist foreign policy.
France is holding its first full trial of “left-wing terrorists” in decades. Prosecutors say it’d be unfair if leftists didn’t face the same charges as far-right or Islamist militants — but the terrorist conspiracy they allege is mere fantasy.
Palestinian feminist Mariam Abudaqa was on a speaking tour in France when Israel destroyed her home in Gaza. France’s government tried to expel her — but, Abudaqa tells Jacobin, she refuses to stop telling the truth about Israel’s crimes.