Emmanuel Macron's first term has seen him wage war on yellow vest protesters, trade unions, and France's Muslims, undermining his image as a shiny progressive. Yet as the 2022 presidential election draws closer, the broad left is divided — and faces a tough challenge to avoid another runoff between Macron and the far-right Marine Le Pen.
Liberals want to smear Jean-Luc Mélenchon as a xenophobe. In fact, they fear his potential to unite the oppressed.
In 1940, did French elites roll out the welcome mat for Nazi Germany?
French writer Albert Camus has become an iconic figure, celebrated by everyone from Emmanuel Macron to George W. Bush. But the idealized public image of Camus as a liberal humanist does not reckon honestly with the impact of French colonialism on his work.
France’s establishment increasingly presents “Islamo-leftists” as the number-one source of antisemitism while whitewashing the far right. A French Jewish activist explains why it is dangerous to counterpose the defense of Jews with that of other minorities.
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.
In France and beyond, centrist governments are invoking "public order" to crack down on left-wing activism. The recent ban on anti-fascist group Jeune Garde follows a wider pattern — including Britain’s move against Palestine Action — of criminalizing dissent.
While most politicians quarantine in safety, La France Insoumise’s Caroline Fiat is risking her life on the front lines as a health worker.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen speaks of the EU’s ambitions to project itself as a superpower on the global stage. But recent crises show that the last thing we need is the European Union expanding its mandate.
Today’s Africa-France summit is a typical show of French president Emmanuel Macron’s imperial grandstanding. But it wouldn’t be possible without business leaders and intellectuals who paint France’s interference in its old colonies in a humanitarian light.
France’s interior minister has threatened to ban environmentalist groups said to represent a risk of “violence against property.” It’s part of a worrying clampdown on civil liberties that belies Emmanuel Macron’s supposedly “liberal” politics.
France's "yellow vest" protests against fuel prices weren't organized by the Left. But the fight to widen their demands is key to blocking the growth of Marine Le Pen's far right.
François Mitterrand warned that France would be irrelevant to twenty-first-century history unless it maintained its control of Africa. Its instrument for so doing is the CFA Franc — a colonial currency entrenching French rule more than fifty years after independence.
As a young man in Paris, Ho Chi Minh embraced a radical internationalism.
French Guiana has taken to the streets to protest decades of underinvestment and neglect.
On Monday, France joined nine other countries in recognizing Palestinian statehood. But the long delay in making this move is a litany of missed opportunities.
However distorted and exaggerated, antisemitism is a real current in France that needs to be confronted.
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.
Today marks one year since yellow-vested protesters first occupied roundabouts and intersections across France. The movement has given a voice to parts of society that usually go ignored — and the newfound spirit of revolt is continuing to shake Emmanuel Macron’s government.
The persistent targeting of Muslims in France requires a left response.