European Marches against Unemployment, which culminated in a sive European economists against the EMU, demonstration of 50,000 activists from across the continent in Amsterdam, published in newspapers across Europe on
June 12, is another step in the right
• EuroMarch organisers are planning a • Several Italian groups have organised
Jospin's junior partners
For all their dynamism and combativeness, however, the forces of protest and resistance in post-1995 France are ideologically and organisationally fragmented and have not rallied around any common political project to the left of the PS.
The French Communist Party (PCF) has only benefited slightly from the new climate.
It has consolidated its electorate at just under
10% and increased its seats from 23 to 38, thanks to its central involvement in recent struggles and changes in its image and practice. But the Party seems unable to move decisively out of the electoral stagnation and decline that have plagued it over the last two
The Party will continue to have great difficulties making inroads on its own as a credible political alternative in the new trade union and social movement sectors and
Holland on June 14th. "regional" demonstration in Luxembourg to coincide with the Luxembourg Summit on Employment of European heads of state on 20-21 November. They hope to attract 3-4000 militants, mostly from a 250 km radius, covering Belgium, Holland, and parts of France and Germany. This and other initiatives will be discussed at an open planning meeting to be held in Luxembourg on 4-5 October. • The European Network of Unemployed (ENU) will meet in Scotland in mid• The Alternativa sindical current in Italy's CGIL trade union confederation is organising a meeting of left currents in Europe's trade unions. Sweden a national and European meeting in Venice on 13 September (see p 19). • A wide range of organisations is expected to participate in the counter-summit which will accompany the EU Summit on Employment. Some trade unions are considering participation in some sort of 'alternative' event. Activities are also planned by the networks of economists opposed to the neo-liberal strategy dominating the European Union According to Christophe Aguiton of the EuroMarch secretariat "it is also important to organise national and local events to coincide with these initiatives, so that the whole network remains motivated and involved." [JD] *
Salvation for Europe's jobless?
among youth. This is partly a result of the collapse of the "socialist bloc".
An important conference for unemployment activists will take place in due to the decline of sectors of the economy
Västervik, Sweden on 3-7 September. Peter Lindgren reports.
where the PC's working class base was strongest and most effective. It is also in part a result of the suspicion with which the Party
ECG Europe network, and is a continua- the organisation of the Christian Social is viewed due to its former bureaucratic practices, and in part a function of its own tion of the conference in Manchester, Democrats).
internal divisions and lack of clarity.
are expected from several north Euro- at a dinner in the Town Hall and offered
A majority wants to modernise the party's image and has opened it up to exc hanges with forces to its lett and to its right
This project includes frequent vague references to "transforming" the party and "going to the citizens". It has changed the party's stance on key issues such as immigration, bringing it more in line with the demands of
The conference is supported by the Britain in March this year. Participants pean countries. The stated goal is to "in a positive way share the experiences of various organisations and find means both nationally and internationally to fight unemployment".
While welcoming the initiative, the Socialist Party (Swedish section of the kapsrörelsen ("Brotherhood movement") of
The conference will also be received a tour of Västervik. It seems that relatively little time during the four days will be spent on important discussions.
On the other hand, the Social Democratic Minister of Labour, Ms Margareta Winberg, will participate - though only for one hour. She is expected a rough
Fourth International) warns that the con- time since she is planning to cut the grassroots movements. Party leader Robert
Hue has undertaken a critical review of the party's past. This majority's attitude toward the PS is ambiguous along with it, mixed with principled political mistrust, fear of being cut off from its own ference is unlikely to fulfil its potential.
The Salvation Army is co-sponsoring the conference, together with an unempcountry's unemployment insurance
For more information contact fax/® (+1 46) 490104 69, or
21
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia, Monte- experience. [CHC/BK] *
* France party on which the PS government depends.
As for the Greens, they sacrificed most of their political independence in exchange for an electoral agreement with the PS that brought them four seats. With this political "debt" to the PS and their modest overall election results (less than four percent), it will be difficult to resist pressures for compromise with the new government.*
At the end of the day, the task of forging an inclusive radical political alternative for critical-minded sectors remains an urgent one. The goal is to force the PS government's hand and to prepare for eventual disappointment and the turbulence that follows. The PCF, the left of the PS, the Greens and points left - alongside the social movements, unions and left-wing currents in academia -all have a pivotal role to play.?s
Let there be no mistake. If the progressive dynamic of the past one and a half years is broken by some combination of PS betrayal and unfavourable political and economic circumstances, it will not be the socia ecological reminist ant-militarist democratic CIVIC
FOR
the Europe of Maastricht and the multinationals
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Against the Europe of Maastricht and the multinationals!
A Marxist and feminist analysis of the
European Union.
From taxation to transport policy, the
International Viewpoint team analyse and explain the process of capitalist integration of Europe, and the costs critical Left that gains the upper hand.? If the new government cannot significantly reduce unemployment while preserving the population's social and democratic rights, the door will be left wide open for the worst elements in French political life — purveyors of a poisonous brew of mean-spirited neoliberalism, xenophobic stupidity and batonwielding authoritarianism.?
The political Right is in disarray and smarting from a well-deserved defeat at the polls. For the moment, the "left" (in the person of Philippe Séguin) has taken over the leadership of the RPR, much to President Chirac's dismay. But the initial signs of a rightward realignment can already be detected. The rank and file and some leaders of the main right-wing parties are already pleading openly for closer collaboration with the neo-fascist FN. The maths is not very difficult: together, the Right and far-right won a slight majority of the popular vote in the elections. The lack of a stand-down agreement between the two camps probably cost them 40 seats. Forty seats with which they would now be back in power.?
The FN has adopted a long-term, national level. It increasingly sets its sights on taking power, alone or in alliance with major splits it expects from the traditional
Right. In the meanwhile, it takes one municipal government after another in the south of the country. It is only kept out of parliament (it has one seat) by an undemocratic voting system. The far right has learned the lesson of December 1995, and has turned its attention to setting up FN trade unions and soup kitchens in order to boost its "social" image.
Much of the FN vote can no longer be described as a mere "protest" vote, but rather as a vote "for" the party's brand of radical xenophobic and authoritarian populism. It now has real roots in the urban, working class areas where it does best.3°
Within the FN itself, a realignment is underway. Long-time leader Jean-Marie Le Pen is losing ground to a slicker and politically more astute wing around Californiaeducated Bruno Mégret. Mégret wants to take full advantage of the crisis in the mainstream Right, without abandoning the most extreme elements of the FN programme and ideology. He expects to test this strategy in key Left-controlled areas in regional elections to be held in 1998.31
The Left victory in France is a defeat for the Right and the neo-liberal project. It creates real opportunities for those seeking a progressive response to the challenges of capitalist globalisation and restructuring, in the European Union and beyond. Failure, however, could pave the way for a defeat of historic proportions. * 1. "Un 'nouvel élan' de façade," Jean-Michel Thénard, 2. Ever that shameless champion of neo-liberalism, The Economist saw a Right victory as "a chance over the next five years to shove the country irreversibly along the path to reform." "Chirac and Juppé hope for change,' The Economist, 24 May 1997. The following week, it expressed its dismay over first-round result in "Those mutinous French," The Economist, 31 May 1997. 3. Honest neo-liberal commentators now say there is no economic justification for the rapid creation of the single currency as such. Rather, the "external constraint" of the Maastricht criteria (and now the Stability Pact) has become a much-needed pretext for national governments and corporate sectors unable to use the normal democratic channels to win domestic public opinion over to their regressive programme of austerity and restructuring. For a summary of the views of neo-liberal maverick Elie Cohen, see "Dans l'étau de l'euro," Bernard Cassen, Le Monde Diplomatique, May 1997. 4. The institutions of the Fifth Republic concentrate tremendous power in the hands of the president. Chirac's dissolution was widely criticised as an unprecedented
"Le bon plaisir," Jean-Michel Colombani, Le Monde, April 23, 1997. 5. "Jacques Chirac tente de rétablir son autorité sur les partis de droite, Jean Louis Saux, Le Monde, July 3, 1997. Chirac's seven-year mandate ends in the year 2002. The 1995 presidential campaign created a tremendous amount of bad blood within the Right. Chirac adopted a "social", more traditionally Gaullist image to outflank the front running rightist candidate for the post, the more explicitly neo-liberal Eduard Balladur, who served as prime minister between 1993 and 1995. 6. See this author's "December 1995: the first revolt against globalisation," Monthly Review #48, May 1996. 7. "D'un décembre a l'autre." Daniel Bensaid, Le Monde, December 13, 1996. 8. "La République, l'extrême droite et nous," Gérard Noiriel, Le Monde, March 12, 1997. 9. There are three stages in the neo-liberal project: first, the liberalisation of capital and commodity flows; second, the privatisation of state-owned companies; third, drastic cuts to social security and labour-market regulations. France, Germany and much of continental Western Europe are seen as being "stuck" somewhere between the second and third stages. This has provoked the ire of the
OECD and the World Economic Forum. See "L' Europe continentale de nouveau épinglée pour les rigidités de son marché de travail," Francoise Lazare, Le Monde, May 23, 1997; and "Les fausses vertus du libéralisme en
Europe," Yves Durrieu, Le Monde, April 29, 1997.
10. "Le 'centrisme radical' de Tony Blair," Philippe Marlière, Le Monde, May 6, 1997; "Lionel Jospin et Tony Blair, deux gauches pour l'Europe," Olivier Schneid, Libération, June 7, 1997; and "Strategie della rosa," Raffaella Menichini, Il Manifesto, June 7, 1997. 11. " 'Changeons d'avenir, changeons de majorité : nos engagements pour la France'," PS election programme, Le Monde, May 3, 1997. 12. "Les principaux points de la déclaration du Premier ministre Lionel Jospin," Agence France Presse, June 19,
Ex-Yugoslav human rights seminar involved for working people, women and youth.
The Croatian Helsinki Committee for negro, Kosovo and Sandiak).
We ask what alternative policies the left can put forward, and make a few tional School on Human Rights from ced by the Swedish Helsinki Committee modest suggestions of our own. * rice: E1/$2 plus 10% postage charge fol orders of 1-4 copies. Order from vour loca agent, or directly from
International
Viewpoint, BP 85, 75522 Paris cedex 11, France
<Internationa/_Viewpoint@compuserve.com>
22 International Viewpoint #292 human rights held its Second InternaAugust 24 to 31, 1997 on the island of Lastovo
Croatian activists were joined by colleagues from Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and the Federal
The primary aim of the school - finanand the Open Society Institute from
Zagreb, Croatia - is the practical educa tion and harmonisation of working metodology of activists for human rights in the field, and a mutual exchange of
1997. 13. The new policy will be released in the autumn. The new Minister of the Interior, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, has said it will be "firm but generous". He is hostile to the letter and spirit of the Pasqua and Debré laws, is against expulsions, and wants Islam to acquire some type of official status, of the kind Christianity and Judaism currently enjoy. "M.Chevènement : pour une politique républicaine' interviewed by Philippe Bernard and Nathaniel Herzberg, Le Monde, June 26, 1997. In the meantime, the national police force's (CRS) favorite sport of attacking protesting undocumented immigrants continues, as do the expulsions. "Sans-papiers: expulsion violente à Paris," L'Humanité, June 30, 1997. 14. Given the tremendous weight and mobility the financial sector has acquired, many wonder if any progressive economic measures are feasible without national and coordinated regional policies aimed at tightly restricting capital movements. "Quelles marges de manoeuvre pour une autre politique ?", Thomas Coutrot, Le Monde, May 15. "Rent ferme Vilvorde, désespère la gauche," Isabelle Mandraud and Hervé Nathan, Libération, June 30, 1997. Renault shares rose 13 percent following the announcement of the factory closing. 16. "Lionel Jospin face à un lourd déficit des comptes publics," Laurent Mauduit, Le Monde, June 20, 1997. 17. "Amsterdam : le pacte signé mais l'emploi fait son entrée," Okba Lamrani, L.'Humanité, June 17, 1997. 18. "Un chancelier en équilibre instable sur l'euro," Lorraine Millot, Libération, June 14, 1997. 19. " "Le bulletin de vote ne suffit pas'," R.L and Isabelle Mandraud, Libération, June 11, 1997.
behaviour makes it difficult to see how it will ever translate its electoral success into a serious project for building a radical left alternative. For more information about the LO campaign and results, The PT is the least-known and weakest of the three, although it carries some weight in the FO trade union confederation. Like LO, it is hostile to working with other groups and in social movements, although it recently compromised on its traditional Stalinophobia to build a demonstration against the Maastricht Treaty with the conTaken together, the far-left and critical Left scored between five and ten percent in a large number of constituencies, and as much as 20 percent in a few places. This does not include those Refondateur and MDC candidates that actually won their seats. Clearly, these forces will have to overcome their divisions if they hope to influence political life in proportion to their collective strength and the apparent receptiveness of a section of the electorate. See "Une nouvelle donne politique," C. Picquet; and "Gauche alternative, un espace significatif," Pierre François, Rouge, May 29, 1997. 27. Much could be said about the explosive economic and social situation in the country. Corporate profits have dramatically rebounded since 1995, yet wealth is distributed in an increasingly unequal fashion, while unempBritain
Europe * loyment, part-time employment and homelessness continue to grow inexorably. See "En 1996, les grandes Orange, Le Monde, April 19, 1997; "Plus de 6 millions entreprises francaises ont retrouvé la forme. Martine de pauvres," Nicole Pericaut, Libération, June 28, 1997; and "Chômage : la maxi-hausse après les minibaisses," R.L., Liberation, July 1, 1997 28. "Juppé passe la main, Séguin attaque Jospin," E. Aeschimann & Gilles Bresson, Libération, June 12, 1997. 29. "S'allier au Front national, la dernière tentation à droite," Renaud Dély and Vanessa Schneider, Libération, June 19, 1997. 30. A recent book on the progression of the FN is Le Front national en face, M. Soudais, Flammarion 1996. 31. "Mégret fait ses offres a la droite," Rémi Broute, L'Humanité, June 11, 1997. Many are bewildered by the FN's deep hatred for President Chirac, who the FN has even accused of being "in the pay of French Jewry". This is linked in part to Chirac's (largely dishonest and failed) attempts to embody the anti-fascist and Bonapartist features of the Gaullist legacy. Chirac was also the chief architect of the mafia-esque world of Parisian politics and city government contracts. He is therefore a symbol for FN leaders, who like to portray themselves as anti-corruption crusaders. If the Right gets the discredited Chirac out of the way, this will eliminate another obstacle to closer co-operation with the FN.