France: Towards the foundation of a New Anti-Capitalist Party

by Grant Morgan 28 November 2008 An informative article about the formation of France's New Anti-Capitalist Party appears below. It is penned by respected French socialist Pierre Rousset, a leader of the left since the 1968 student revolt and general strike which almost overthrew the De Gaulle regime. After an outline of decades of failed attempts at bringing about "radical left unity" in France, Rousset outlines the apparently successful rise of a broad left party over the last 18 months. He points to a key element in this success: a bottom-up (rather than a "top-bottom") approach which taps into a general yearning for an independent left challenge to the Socialist Party, France's equivalent to the New Zealand Labour Party. It seems there are important similarities (as well as differences, of course) between the political situation of France and New Zealand. In New Zealand, a bottom-up strategy of "going to the masses" with a plan to protect the people from economic crisis by rolling back the market may well be the formative impulse for the rise of a strong broad left party.

Towards the foundation of a New Anti-Capitalist Party

by Pierre Rousset from LINKS - International Journal of Socialist Renewal The political impact of the New Anti-Capitalist Party (Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste or NPA) process is quite important. In a number places, this new political party in construction is already de facto replacing the French Revolutionary Communist League (Ligue communiste révolutionnaire or LCR)and is very active.

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