France on the edge
IMAGO/NurPhoto
One million people marched across France on 18 September 2025 in response to a joint call from unions and the Bloquons Tout (Block Everything) movement. From the early morning, hundreds of grassroots initiatives joined picket lines following weeks of self-organized general assemblies. This second day of mobilization — coming after the protests on 10 September that drew 500,000 participants — confirmed both the scale and the radical nature of the emerging movement.
While the call to action has resonated widely, the question of what comes ...
read more "From Political Impasse to Popular Alternative?"
read more "From Political Impasse to Popular Alternative?"
IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
Why Le Pen’s games are a danger to democracy
Like all right-wing extremist parties, the National Rally (Rassemblement National – RN) styles itself as an “anti-establishment” movement fighting against an allegedly corrupt and self-serving political elite. However, when it comes to their own financial interests, either individual or party-wide, they exempt themselves from these high moral standards. This is certainly the case with the most recent verdict against Marine Le Pen, and her allies’ reactions to it. Throughout the trial the ...
read more "From far-right firebrand to playing the victim"
read more "From far-right firebrand to playing the victim"
IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
The verdict against Marine Le Pen sends shockwaves around Europe–and is a powerful message against corruption and the abuse of power.
The prominent French nationalist Marine Le Pen was today found guilty by the Paris Criminal Court of embezzling public funds. Specifically, Le Pen was accused of misappropriating resources from the European Parliament to pay party staff in France. Around 20 individuals from her close circle were also convicted, including eight Members of the European Parliament. The political impact is seismic: the frontrunner for the 2027 ...
read more "Head Bowed, Hands Dirty"
read more "Head Bowed, Hands Dirty"
The Left
Version française ci-dessous
The forward march of extremist forces in Europe continued apace in the 2024 super election year, with far-right parties watching their election results surge in country after country. Their recent instalment into leadership positions within the European Commission — a historic first for the continent — is now eating away at the foundations of the bloc’s traditional governing coalition, which has tended to span from the centre-right to the centre-left. Meanwhile, the stunning re-election of Donald Trump as President ...
read more "Europe Needs an Action-Oriented Left"
read more "Europe Needs an Action-Oriented Left"
IMAGO/Starface
On the evening of Sunday, 7 July 2024, the Place de la République in Paris was once again filled with a compact crowd, but this time it was joy and shouts of victory that dominated the gathering immediately after the election results were announced.
read more "A Hopeful Surprise in France"
read more "A Hopeful Surprise in France"
IMAGO/Le Pictorium
When Emmanuel Macron was elected President of France in 2017, he vowed in his first public speech that the far right would be erased before of the end of his mandate. Seven years later, Marine Le Pen’ Rassemblement National (RN) is on the verge of power, set to walk through a door that was left wide open by Macron when he decided to dissolve the French legislative assembly and call for snap elections after the highest result ever registered for the far right in France in the European elections on 9 June.
The results of the EU elections seemed to...
read more "France between Fascism and the Popular Front"
read more "France between Fascism and the Popular Front"
IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
****Version française ci-dessous****With only a few days to go before election day, the foundation’s Nessim Achouche spoke to Clémence Guetté, a member of the French National Assembly for La France insoumise (LFI) and co-president of the movement’s think tank, Institut La Boétie, about LFI’s electoral strategy and how Institut La Boétie helps to inform that strategy with research and serious debate.
read more "The Struggle for Hegemony Is a Struggle for Ideas"
read more "The Struggle for Hegemony Is a Struggle for Ideas"
IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
How French voters turn out in the European elections next month could have major domestic implications
Do the French care about the European elections? Thus far, the European electoral campaign has failed to stir up much popular enthusiasm. Of course, it is only just getting underway, and headlines have focused primarily on the new government and farmers’ protests in recent months.
The first televised debate, held on 14 March by TV channel Public Sénat, was a testament to this lack of interest: the public had to wait until less than three months before the elections ...
read more "A Test Run for 2027?"
read more "A Test Run for 2027?"
An analysis of the perspectives for the French left and the NUPES in the 2024 European Parliament elections
***Version française ci-dessous***
This study aims to provide a brief analysis of the current state of affairs in the European Union in order to analyse the perspectives of the French left in the 2024 European Parliament election. In France, the question of the union of the left was at the heart of public debates in the year preceding the presidential election of April 2022. This union was widely sought by a large majority of left-wing voters, which even led, in...
read more "Unity Makes Strength?"
read more "Unity Makes Strength?"
***Version française ci-dessous***
Due to dwindling membership and internal divisions, the decline of French trade unions long seemed inevitable. Against this backdrop, the unity demonstrated by the so-called intersydicale since the beginning of the massive protests against the pension reform, as well as internal renewal processes are historic in many respects. Is tradeunionism in France experiencing a renaissance?
For the first time in decades, this year’s May Day celebrations brought all of France’s trade union confederations together in a major ...
read more "The Paradox of French Labour"
read more "The Paradox of French Labour"