Archive of France

Emmanuel Macron's campaign to be re-elected French President has come under increasing strain in recent weeks following the so-called “the McKinsey Affair,” named after the giant American consulting firm that was paid enormous sums by the French government for reports that were often completely useless. Frédéric Lordon asks what the controversy says about the state in contemporary capitalism, and what the affair's effects on the forthcoming French elections will be.

Even in times of defeat, the class struggle continues. Everything is not possible at all times, but there are always forks in the road and opportunities – all too often missed – for the forces of popular emancipation. Reflecting on the lessons of the student movement of 1986 and the shattered 'Greek Spring',  Stathis Kouvelakis sketches a way forward for the left in 2022. 

In the aftermath of May 68, the question of the school was omnipresent in French philosophy. In this interview Etienne Balibar discusses the different critiques of the school in post-68 French thought and the challenges involved in developing a Marxist theory of the 'school apparatus'. 

Alberto Toscano reviews the Spinozan social science approach of Frédéric Lordon, as exemplified in his book Imperium: Structures and Affects of Political Bodies.

Complete your Rancière bookshelf with this reading list! 

Sixty years ago this month, French police massacred an estimated two hundred Algerians in Paris during a peaceful demonstration in support of an independent Algeria. At the FLN's request, Renault factory workers and leftist activists Clara and Henri Benoits attended the demonstration as observers. They recount what they witnessed in this fascinating interview.

Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter wrote about Eric Zemmour, the far-right political sensation currently surging in French presidential polls, in their book Reactionary Democracy (2020). Check out this extract to learn more about Zemmour and the reactionary politics he's brought to the mainstream in France.

Left publishing is experiencing a long-overdue renaissance internationally. In this interview, Nicolas Vieillescazes shares his experience building a new editorial programme with Editions Amsterdam and advancing political analysis through publishing. 

Houria Bouteldja and Youssef Boussoumah, co-founders of the Parti des Indigènes de la République in France, detail the party's history, the French anti-racist and anti-imperialist movement, and their own experiences engaging in anti-racist politics over the last fifteen years. 

The 1968 revolts in France live in popular memory as the country's most significant political moment in the twentieth century. In this extensive interview, Grey Anderson urges us to turn our attention instead a decade earlier to 1958 and the fall of the Fourth Republic. Anderson argues that the Fourth Republic's demise was a coup that allowed de Gaulle to seize power and crush his oppostion.