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French Stuff... Yeah.

The recent French riots should be seen both as an inspiration and a warning.They can only be seen in the context of the general social unrest that is accelerating across Europe, and in particular France. It’s a conflict best described as the struggle between social and neo-liberal Europe.When you think anti-capitalism and Europe you think France. This is a country where revolution is part tradition and living memory. This is the country of ATTAC, the sans papiers and Jose Bove. This is the country of numerous social explosions; the general strike in 1995, which toppled the Tory government of the time; the 2003 summer strike wave that threatened to do the same.This year we have seen a public sector strike against pension cuts and attacks on the 35-hour week. This morphed into a general strike in Marseille in solidarity with Corsican seafarers struggling to save their ferry service that occupied their ship and were removed at gunpoint by the army. The leftward shift and the high level of struggle was crowned this year by the referendum success, defeating the neo-liberal EU constitution.One group left behind by this radicalisation was the immigrant and immigrant-descended population. What was so heartening about the riots was the willingness of urban youth to stamp its identity on French consciousness. After years of being ignored and neglected suddenly the French ghettos were top of the political agenda.There is poverty and racism in every society. France already has an official unemployment rate of 10%. This figure goes up to around 40% in many of the ghettos and can be even higher amongst young men.These facts, combined with the level of police harassment and brutality, such as the incident that originally sparked the riots, left urban France a powder keg.Part of the reason behind this is the republican tradition held dear by many, including the radical left. There is no such thing as an ‘ethnic minority’ in France. The concept doesn’t officially exist. Everyone is French, first and last. It is even illegal for government censuses to gather information as to the extent of the ethnic minority populations.This is all well in principle. As part of the anti-capitalist struggle we should fight for people to be treated as equal in the eyes of the law.Every resident of France should be granted full civil rights. In practice some are regarded as more French than others. In the face of this, fine principles end up being a screen for reactionary politics and institutional racism.A few years ago the French left got itself into a tangle backing supposed ‘secularism’ in education. Religious symbols as a whole were banned from schools. However, the legislation was aimed especially at banning the hijab.In supporting this law, the French left ended up siding with some of the most right wing and racist forces in French politics, against one of the most oppressed. Combined with the ludicrous slogan of “no to war and no to terrorism”, this ended up isolating the French left from the Muslim and immigrant population.The riots themselves took everyone in France by surprise. The very groups that should have stuck up for the Muslim and immigrant civil rights had abandoned them. The French left failed to harness one of the biggest uprisings in France since the spring of 1968.If you deny people the means of political expression, if you deny them any hope of change for the better in their lives, people will take matters into their own hands. When it comes to police harassment, if politicians and parties do not take the matter up, sooner or later people will come out onto the streets to drive the police out of their neighbourhoods.But, as the Guardian journalist Gary Younge said, “Many of these French youths may have had a ball last week, but what they really need is a party - a political organisation that will articulate their aspirations” (1). Forging a new-left out of the anti-capitalist movement, groups like Respect, Rifondazione, the Left Bloc and so on, will prove crucial if we are to focus people’s anger with the system, harness their desire for change. The battle between social and neo-liberal Europe is coming. If we get organised we can unite all forms of resistance and discontent and truly make another world possible.(1) Younge G, Riots are a class act - and often they're the only alternative Monday November 14, 2005The GuardianFrom: http://throughthescarydoor.blogspot.com/2005/11/french-stuff-yeah.html