Emmanuel Macron has sparked protests after appointing an education minister who sent her own children to private school. France’s school system has never delivered real equality — but as the rich flock to the private sector, it’s only getting worse.
Ahead of the 2022 election, French media are presenting an inevitable duel between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and the "populist" Marine Le Pen. Yet for decades we've seen how this liberal framing fuels far-right talking points — echoing Le Pen's false claim to stand for those "left behind" against the status quo.
Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the pension age has stirred mass opposition. The labor minister pushing the bill is an ex-Socialist — and the huge protests in his hometown show how the neoliberalized center left has sold out working-class France.
In the wake of this month's devastating explosion in Beirut, French and American leaders have made a show of pledging their support to Lebanon. But many have greeted these messages with suspicion in light of the disastrous history of French and US involvement in the country since it attained independence in 1943.
In Sunday’s elections, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-wing coalition has a historic chance to break Emmanuel Macron’s grip on Parliament. Newly reelected MP Danièle Obono tells Jacobin that to win, the Left will have to mobilize habitual nonvoters.
Most French people oppose raising the pension age, and there was no parliamentary majority for the change. While the reform has now been railroaded through the National Assembly, mobilized opponents see a chance to finish off an unpopular government.
France’s Greens, Socialists, and Communists have joined a coalition supporting Jean-Luc Mélenchon for prime minister. He has proven that a transformative program is the best way to inspire millions — and to deny Emmanuel Macron a majority in parliament.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s breakthrough in the 2017 presidential election brought France Insoumise to the heart of French public life. Yet today, as its base shrinks to a traditional far-left electorate, the movement’s very survival is in doubt.
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.
Yesterday, French rail workers kicked off months of rolling strikes against Macron’s attacks on their working conditions.
In the 14th century, France experienced the biggest popular revolt in its history before 1789. Historians have often denounced or derided the rebels, but they mounted a sophisticated, well-organized challenge to noble power that was brutally repressed.
December 5 is strike day in France, as trade unions mobilize against Emmanuel Macron’s assault on pensions. But as the gilets jaunes protests have shown, only a movement rallying wider layers of working people will be able to push back Macron’s neoliberal agenda.
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.
As the number of inmates continues to soar, France has among Europe’s most overcrowded jails. But with the range of imprisonable crimes also growing, Emmanuel Macron’s government shows little interest in rehabilitating convicts outside the cell walls.
Not all French business elites look favorably on the rise of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National. But tech bosses, fossil fuel magnates, and “alternative finance” chiefs see plenty to like in its program — and they’re putting their support behind it.
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.
The gilets jaunes have put the social ills of rural France at the heart of public debate. These areas aren't "backward," they're suffering from decades of attacks on social welfare and living conditions.
As protesting farmers drive their tractors toward Paris, many in the media speak of a rural revolt. But not all farmers are on the same side, as ordinary producers complain of being crushed by unequal subsidies and factory farms who skirt environmental rules.
La Poste is using the absence of any strong transnational framework guaranteeing workers’ pay and conditions to exploit England’s precarious labor market. The Left needs to fight to empower states to discipline capitalists, domestically and internationally.
On Friday, France’s Constitutional Council upheld Emmanuel Macron’s deeply unpopular pension reform. The move shows the bankruptcy of a constitution that puts only minimal checks on the president’s power.