by Karlos Bermann
During the first half of 2023 huge strikes and demonstrations have shaken France to its foundations. Workers, students, retirees, and national minorities in the millions have taken to the streets not only in Paris and other big cities, but in towns and villages throughout the the country. Many issues are involved, including ongoing protests against reductions in pension benefits. The latest is police violence, sparked by the police killing of a 17-year-old French-Algerian during a traffic stop June 27 in Nanterre, a Paris suburb. Thus far, the protests have focused on the Macron government. But the problem is capitalist rule, Macron is just a symptom. The overriding question for France? –Get rid of Macron or get rid of capitalist rule?
The problem and the solution
In response to the police murder of “Nahel M,” on July 5, International Marxist Radio, affiliated with the International Marxist Tendency, aired a podcast titled “France: police killing sparks mass fury.” This blog post is a commentary on that podcast.
Get rid of Macron or get rid of capitalist rule?
A large part of the podcast is taken up by a discussion of how to get rid of French President Emmanuel Macron. But Macron is only a symptom. The problem is how to get rid of capitalist rule. The participants in the podcast certainly understand that. But to pose the question simply in terms of getting rid of Macron is to miseducate the workers and play into the hands of the Stalinists and Mensheviks who, if they are able, will drive all the ongoing struggles into the sand trap of capitalist reform politics.
Two things needed for a French revolution
Two things are lacking for a socialist revolution in France: A necessary level of class consciousness on the part of the workers; and a Leninist (Bolshevik) vanguard party capable of providing them leadership. Those two requirements are not independent of each other, they are closely interwoven. The workers can only gain class consciousness through their daily struggles, which, in turn, only the Bolshevik vanguard is capable of leading. The small nucleus of the future mass Leninist party—initially only a propaganda group, will in turn only develop into a real Leninist party through participation in and leadership of the workers in these struggles. The stepladder to that outcome is the Transitional Program.
Pose the question in class terms
If you simply get rid of Macron the question then becomes who (not what) will replace him? That puts you in the swamp with the reformists. On the other hand, to merely explain that you are for socialism doesn’t point to the road ahead; it only points to the destination. Moreover, it presupposes that the workers are already in favor of socialism and understand it as you do. Instead, the issue must be posed in clear class terms: Which class shall rule, the capitalists or the workers? The slogan “Down with Macron, for a Workers’ Government (or a Workers’ and Farmers’ Government)” is what puts it in class terms. It is a slogan easily understood by radicalizing workers who don’t need to understand socialism or your interpretation of it. And at the same time it pulls the rug from under the Stalinists, Mensheviks, and other “leftist” reformists. From the statement by Révolution, the French affiliate of the IMT, it does not appear that the group as yet grasps this.
