Frantz Fanon’s Algerian Years on Film
In French-ruled Algeria, Frantz Fanon was a psychiatrist and an active member of the National Liberation Front. A new movie portrays his commitment to the anti-colonial struggle.
11 Articles by: Phineas Rueckert
Phineas Rueckert is a Paris-based journalist. His writing has appeared in Vice and Next City.
The Other French Far-Right Leader Facing Corruption Charges
Marine Le Pen’s conviction shone a spotlight on her party’s misuse of public funds. Where the party already runs the government, in the southeastern town of Fréjus, its mayor, David Rachline, stands accused of a massive web of corruption.
Meet Ian Brossat, the Communist Running for Mayor of Paris
Ian Brossat made his name as Paris’s housing chief, bucking the trend toward marketization by expanding social housing in the French capital. A member of the French Communist Party, he told Jacobin about his bid to become Paris’s next mayor.
France Wants to Make Olympics-Style Surveillance Permanent
This summer’s Paris Olympics saw an experiment in AI-assisted algorithmic video surveillance. Now French officials say they want to make it permanent, in what experts call a worrying use of invasive and even racially discriminatory technology.
Argentina’s Media Workers Just Knocked Back Javier Milei
Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, promised to close press agency Télam and sack its 700 employees. But media workers fought back — and saved the agency from being shuttered.
Gabriel Boric Is Struggling to Boost Chile’s Meager Pensions
Left-winger Gabriel Boric became Chile’s president two years ago on a wave of popular mobilization. But with a constitutional rewrite in tatters, plans to reform the country’s privatized pension system pose a tough test of his ability to make lasting changes.
Undocumented Workers Are Challenging France’s Olympics Juggernaut — and Winning
Paris’s flashy new venues for the 2024 Olympics depend on the rather less glamorous labor of undocumented migrant workers. Their recent strike action showed how much the Games depend on them — and won them the right to regular migration status.
Emmanuel Macron Is Using the 2024 Olympics to Make France a Surveillance State
A new security law from Emmanuel Macron’s government will roll out an AI-based biometric categorization system. The law is billed as a measure for the 2024 Paris Olympics — but also allows a vast expansion of intrusive surveillance.
France Faces a Historic Squeeze on Public Housing
Emmanuel Macron promised he’d shorten France’s two-million-long waiting list for public housing. But the promised construction boom hasn’t materialized — and even poorly maintained housing is becoming ever more unaffordable.
Emmanuel Macron Vowed to End Homelessness — but His Policies Made It Worse
Emmanuel Macron promised to end homelessness in his first year in office — but over his five-year term, it actually increased. Now, with the Left leading polls for June’s parliamentary elections, Macron’s failure on housing is coming back to haunt him.
France’s Once-Mighty Communist Party Is Struggling to Find Its Voice
French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel is running for the presidency — and even polling ahead of the long-powerful Socialists. But a campaign heavy on identity also shows that the old workers’ parties are struggling to speak to a changed working class.