The Age of Class Dealignment
Over the course of decades, social democracy abandoned workers. Then workers abandoned social democracy.
Search Result(s) for: “mitterrand”
Good Riddance, Jean-Marie Le Pen
At his life’s end, Jean-Marie Le Pen had been expelled from the party that he helped found. Yet this Holocaust denier and former torturer left behind an important legacy: making the far right into a major force in French political life.
Introduction: Europe Against the Left
What makes this perennial sad story worthy of another reexamination?
The Impossible Escape From the European Union
Neoliberalism is embedded in the European Union’s DNA. But for the continent’s left, there are few good alternatives.
The Centrist Cul-de-Sac
Even if Macron wins, five more years of neoliberalism in France could further bolster Le Pen's National Front.
How “Social Europe” Became the Alibi for a Neoliberal EU
During the 1970s, left parties and unions promoted the idea of a “Social Europe” as a response to the crisis of capitalism. The term later served as a rhetorical distraction from the EU’s ongoing embrace of neoliberal dogma.
The Anti-Communism That Fueled Jean-Marie Le Pen
After the Axis powers’ defeat in World War II, many former Nazis and Vichyites recycled themselves as anti-communists. Jean-Marie Le Pen sought to rally such forces with radicalized conservatives in a common front against the red peril.
How France’s Intellectuals Became Reactionaries
France has always had right-wing thinkers — but they are more prominent now than any time since World War II. A decades-long counterrevolution against the Left has led to reactionary provocateurs reshaping French intellectual life.
In France, Too, Billionaire Tycoons Are Silencing Their Critics
In France, right-wingers love to pose as defenders of free speech. Yet the takeover of media by a cast of billionaire pro-Trump tycoons means that just a handful of individuals have a veto over huge swaths of the press.
Overhauling French Politics
At stake in Sunday's French election is the specter of the far right, the neoliberalism of the extreme center, and Mélenchon's challenge to the system itself.
No Direction Home
The far right has made breakthroughs in old Communist heartlands across Europe. A new memoir blames this on the slow and painful erosion of class politics.
Emmanuel Macron Is Using the Far Right to Bolster His Power
Since his first presidential campaign in 2017, Emmanuel Macron has presented himself as the only barrier to chaos. But this snap election has shown how much Macron has helped build up the far-right threat in order to entrench his own power.
François Ruffin: It’s Time to Put an End to the Neoliberal Era
Filmmaker François Ruffin has become a leading critic of the destruction of France’s welfare model. Today an MP, Ruffin told Jacobin how the Left can rediscover its purpose — and again rally the discontent of rural and peripheral France.
After Raising the Pension Age, Emmanuel Macron Is Planning “Unprecedented Austerity”
Emmanuel Macron has pushed through a rise in the pension age despite vast protests. In a televised address on Monday night, he said he’d “heard the anger” in the streets — yet his government’s new budget plans promise further attacks on France’s social model.
“Our Own Brand of Socialism”: An Interview with Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez on Fidel Castro, the Soviet Union, and creating “a government which would make the poor happy.”
Daniel Guérin Showed Us What a Socialist Writer Should Be
French socialist thinker Daniel Guérin lived a life of extraordinary political commitment, from anti-fascist and anti-colonial struggles to his pioneering advocacy of gay liberation. Guérin’s writings and record should be a touchstone for the modern left.
The Macron Phenomenon
Emmanuel Macron’s strong polling in the French election signals a political realignment destined to consolidate elite control.
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.
Fredric Jameson and the Adventure of French Theory
After 1945, France produced an extraordinary wave of social theorists whose influence is still felt today. In his final work, Fredric Jameson discussed the excitement of watching this wave rise and fall and the conditions that made it possible.
A Soldier for Peace
The life of French General Jacques Pâris de Bollardière shows how the strongest voices against war and militarism can come from the military’s own ranks.