Following the election of a record number of radical left and ultra-right candidates in the March regional elections in France, Green Left Weekly's LISA MACDONALD spoke to PIERRE ROUSSET, a veteran socialist activist and editor of Rouge, the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), about the state of the progressive movements in France.
According to Rousset, the regional elections in March seem to have opened a general political crisis.
On one hand, there was a protest vote — for the left — against neo-liberal policies. For the first time at that level of government, the independent radical left appeared as a force in the electoral field, gaining more than 5%, and therefore seats, in a number of regions.
On the other hand, the semi-fascist National Front (NF) won a big political victory. For some years, the NF has commanded 15% of the vote nationally. In the regional elections, which have proportional representation, this gave it a balance of power in 13 of France's 21 mainland regions.
"Before the elections, a large majority of regions were held by the traditional right-wing parties, the Gaullist Republican Assembly (RPR) of President Chirac and the Union of French Democracy (UDF). In these elections, the right lost most of their regions, except where they made an alliance with the NF."
The right fragmented on this issue. "The line of the national leaderships of the RPR and UDF was 'Do not accept election with the NF'. Despite this, in five regions their candidates accepted the NF's support. This opened a crisis of the right-wing parties.
"The NF has shown that it is in a position to bring towards itself wings of the traditional right-wing parties.
"It's too early to be sure how far, how fast and in what form the situation will develop, but the Socialist Party government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin will be tempted to shift to the centre right to occupy the vacant space. The Communist Party [in the government coalition] would be put in a more acutely contradictory situation — co-responsible for government policies which are more and more against its anti-neo-liberal line.
"The Greens, also part of the coalition, would be in the same position as the CP. The result would be more political space for the radical left."
Turning point
Behind all these developments, says Rousset, is a crucial turning point: the November-December 1995 general strike of public servants against, unemployment, privatisation and the attacks on social security.
"Before it, people felt the weight of neo-liberal policies, but the disintegration of the USSR, the propaganda about the crimes of Marxism, the austerity policies of a supposedly left-wing government under Mitterrand, all combined to leave people feeling there were no alternatives.
"The November-December '95 events showed the population that we are millions who want a break, millions who are against these neo-liberal policies, millions who are increasingly afraid of what society our children will inherit if we do not fight, millions who are scared of the destruction of all solidarity.
"From then on, the resistance increased. People no longer trust the neo-liberal discourse and, while they don't know exactly how or what, they want change."
This new consciousness is reflected in the social movements. An example is the emergence of the unemployed movement.
"When structural unemployment began to grow, the trade unions were unwilling to organise the unemployed. They maintained the idea that the unemployed were just 'between jobs'. But today there is such a huge number of long-term unemployed and expansion of short-term and part-time jobs that there is no longer a clear line between unemployment and employment. Most new people hired are hired on a temporary, casual or contract basis.
"The traditional left parties and the main unions were very slow to respond. The initiatives came from the LCR and other radical parties.
"Some started from services to help the unemployed and developed them into active, mobilising organisations. Others, like the LCR, were afraid of the growing gap between the unemployed associations and the trade unions. The bourgeoisie blames unemployment on the employed — 'If the employed accepted lower wages and worse conditions, then we could hire more people'.
"To overcome this division, we launched a movement for the unemployed, but with the active participation of our trade unionists. It proved successful. Later, the CGT [one of the trade union federations] launched its own unemployed committees, which are now strong in Marseille, for example.
"There are now unemployed organisations which involve just the unemployed, organisations for the unemployed in which radical trade unionists participate and the CGT-controlled organisations.
"There have been large marches, in France and Europe-wide, and over recent months long occupations of unemployment agencies. These had a huge political impact and forced the government to hold discussions with the unemployed themselves for the first time."
Migrants
Another example is the migrants' rights campaign. "To an incredible extent, migrant workers have been criminalised. There are many migrant workers because they offer the ultimate flexibility for the bosses. They are completely dependent. They are used to press down all working conditions and as scapegoats.
"Before the election of the Socialist Party, there was a huge movement of clandestine workers who occupied churches and said, 'We don't want to live clandestine lives any more'. The SP had to give guarantees to open a new wave of 'regularisation'.
"One of the first issues raised after the national election was the issuing of papers to all clandestine workers who asked for them. But the minister of the interior put such strict criteria that at least half of them were refused.
"There were large demonstrations and a new wave of church occupations. Planes supposed to transport clandestine workers out of France were grounded.
"This struggle is extremely important for the notions of solidarity and citizenship. Thousands and thousands of migrant workers risking all by coming out, describing their conditions of life and work, was a shock for many people. The right-wing ideological offensive was blown apart as many people realised the hell the migrants lived in here."
Feminism
In this framework of reviving struggles, there is a revival of the movement for women's rights.
"There was a generation gap in this movement. My generation won equal pay, abortion rights and so on. The next generation was much less sensitive to inequality.
"But now there is an all-out offensive against women. Women are much more severely hit by the deregulation of work. Only men 30-50 have stable employment. This is a factor reviving women's struggles and linking them with other social struggles.
"A second factor is the huge ideological and physical offensive against abortion rights. We have had the same development, though not to the same extent, as in the US. Extreme-right commandos are occupying hospitals and clinics where abortion is done. They are putting huge pressure to restrict the law which makes abortion legal."
The gap between generations is being bridged, says Rousset, and over the last couple of years there has been a feminist renewal.
"On November 25, 1996, 50,000 people demonstrated in the streets for women's rights. Then there was a national conference on women's rights which had a big impact and through which many different groups, linked to many political currents on the left, collaborated to project a program in defence of women's rights.
"As well, the first demonstration for the 35-hour week and against unemployment after the election of the SP government was initiated by a women's rights coalition."
Young women are centrally involved in this revival, alongside women from the earlier movement. "The language is not the same, the dialogue can be difficult, and the understanding of women's rights can be different. But a young generation of women activists is developing and taking over responsibility for the struggle as a whole.
"It is a left, activist feminism. The growth of solidarity between trade unions, associations and movements operates in favour of the development of non-careerist-led campaigns. Of course, you have the careerists, but the elite is not leading the movement."
Anti-fascist movement
On of the key movements is the anti-fascist movement.
"The LCR has a dual policy in the anti-fascist struggle. First, we contribute to the permanent, activist mass movement against fascism and the NF, the Ras l'Front [Against the Front]. It has chapters, members, its own newspaper, and it fights against the NF, fascist ideology and extreme right ideologies. This movement is especially important since the NF now controls some towns in the south.
"The second element is to initiate broad coalitions of the left, to unify the labour movement and all of the left in actions against fascism.
"Just after the regional elections, we called on the movements to organise demonstrations across France against the fascist threat. Fifty thousand people demonstrated that weekend. The marches were especially huge in the regions where the right wing accepted a deal with the NF to stay in government."
Rousset predicts that this will become a bigger political issue as one section of the SP is tempted to join with the republican right wing against the fascists. "We oppose this for the simple reason that it is the social crisis which makes the NF successful.
"Purely institutional or political manoeuvres will not stop the NF. If the social questions are not tackled, if unemployment doesn't decrease, the NF will not be constrained or destroyed. You cannot have an effective anti-fascist policy with right-wing policies and in alliance with the bosses. You have to have a real left policy."