France | Links

Ten proposals to beat the European Union

By Eric Toussaint, Miguel Urbán Crespo, Teresa Rodríguez, Angela Klein, Stathis Kouvelakis, Costas Lapavitsas, Zoe Konstantopoulou, Marina Albiol, Olivier Besancenot, Rommy Arce, et al.

February 28, 2017 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt — This collective text (full list of signatories here) initiated by Eric Toussaint, of the CADTM campaign for the abolition of the debt of the global South has been collectively discussed and co-signed by personalities and activists from more than 15 European countries representing a wide range of forces of the radical and anticapitalist Left: Podemos and Izquierda Unida in Spain, the Portuguese Left Bloc, the Left Party, the NPA and Ensemble in France, Popular Unity and Antarsya in Greece, the radical Danish left and activists from countries such as Cyprus, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary. It is signed by MEPs from different parties and countries, by the head of finance of the City of Madrid, by the former president of the Greek Parliament, by a series of members of the Commission For the truth on the Greek debt. All the signatories are involved in the ongoing discussions about a “plan B” for Europe.

Contemporary crisis and workers control

This chapter is taken from An Alternative Labour History: Worker Control and Workplace Democracy, edited by Dario Azzellini and published by Zed Books. For more of Azzellini’s writings visit his website By Dario Azzellini July 31, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- During the first decade of the current century factory occupations and production under workers’ control seemed to be limited mainly to South America, with a few exceptions in Asia. It was beyond the imagination of most workers and scholars in industrialized countries that workers would or could occupy their companies and run them on their own. Nevertheless, the crisis that started in 2008 put workers’ control back on the agenda in the northern hemisphere. Occupations of workplaces and production under control of workers sprang up in the United States, Western Europe and Egypt. This chapter describes some of these struggles and their common characteristics and differences.

France: Nice and the invisible enemy (plus New Anti-Capitalist Party statement)

By Herve Do Alto, translated by Federico Fuentes July 21, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- And that was how the horror came to my doorstep. To tell you the truth, like many people who live in the province – a somewhat disparaging term used to refer to the rest of France that exists outside of Paris and its surrounds – I thought terrorist attacks were mainly a concern for those in the capital. On July 14, this certainty was blown apart by the sad and harsh reality: 84 people of various nationality and beliefs, among them dozens of children, died due to the actions of a lunatic in the Promenade des Anglais, the “Malecon” of the city of Nice, in the south-east of France, only a few kilometres from Italy.

When France moves, all of Europe shakes

Masses of mainly young people continue to occupy the Place de la République each evening as part of the Nuit Debout (Up All Night) movement June 15, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Socialist Worker -- Massive strikes and protests are rocking France, with the threat of greater shocks to come as a hated labor law "counterreform" comes to the French Senate for discussion.

The rise of Marxism in France

French Workers' Party (POF) poster that reads "Workers of the World Unite". By Doug Enaa Greene To the memory of my great grandparents, radicals in their way, Helen and Frank Last. May 11, 2016 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal – In the late nineteenth century, despite the ascendancy of Marxist-led socialist parties across Europe, it was not inevitable that Marxism would become the hegemonic trend on the French left. France possessed a rich and vibrant revolutionary history from 1789 to the Paris Commune that produced many vibrant movements, figures and ideologies, who all contended for allegiance of the working class.

UPDATED: France: Nuit Debout’s call to action; Reflections on 'Nuit Debout'

Vive la révolution: demonstrators gather in Place de la République, Paris, for a nocturnal sit-in on April 2

Resistance, citizens assemblies and the rise of a French indignes movement

April 17, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Throughout the month of March 2016, French students and workers met on the streets to protest a proposed labor law reform and th

Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the politics of a Plan B for Europe

March 10, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Inter

Stephen F. Cohen on Ukraine: Meeting shows 'Kiev, not Moscow, blocking peace deal'

Yanis Varoufakis: 'Our Athens Spring'

Knife at its throat, Greece yields to Troika brutality

France: Jean-Luc Mélenchon's assessment of March 22 and 29 departmental elections

To improve the resolution of the subtitles, please press play, then click on the small "cog" in the right-hand bottom corner and change quality to 240p or higher. You may need to restart the video from the beginning. It is also best watched in full-screen view (click on the square on the far right-hand bottom corner).

[For more on French politics, click HERE.]

April 7, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Front de Gauche (Left Front) leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon's assessment of the March 22 and 29, 2015, departmental elections in France.