Book. “Power is a mirror for the left, it attracts it as much as it frightens it. This ambivalence, this eternal coming and going marks its history.” In his latest work, The challenge of governing. The left and power from the Dreyfus affair to the present (Perrin, 416 pages, 23 euros), François Hollande defines, from the first two sentences, the terrible equation in which the left, born “from a revolutionary perspective”has been facing since the 19thmy century.
“Is the Left destined to protest, challenge and overthrow predatory and inhumane capitalism?” EITHER “Participate in repairing the damage caused by an order that is being fought against?”, The book aims to question François Hollande, echoing the New Popular Front (NFP), caught between the intransigence of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the desire for compromise of the Socialist Party (PS). For François Hollande, these questions are purely rhetorical. In his book, the former president answers immediately, expressing his preference for social democracy, which allowed the establishment of the “fundamentals” of our societies, such as labour law, secularism, public schools or social protection. Radicalism must persist, but remain on the sidelines.
From the Tours Congress of 1920, which saw the emergence of the Socialist Party and the Communist Party, to the Popular Front, through the seven-year double mandate of François Mitterrand, and the “plural left” By Lionel Jospin, up to the latest uprisings of the NFP, the former head of State goes back in time and sets out to demonstrate, through history, the relevance of his thesis. That of a left that wins when its centre of gravity is reformist and not radical. Since the beginning of the 20th centurymy century, this duality is embodied through two figures, that of Jean Jaurès, who wanted to govern in the name of the consolidation of the Republic, and the inflexible Jules Guesde, who advocated staying away “of a bourgeois government”.
The Epinay congress, the example to follow
But the success of the left is also the combination of two antagonistic sides, which feed off each other. The author returns to the Popular Front and its social conquests, so relevant since the emergence of the NFP, governed by Léon Blum, who “estimates both theses », and manages to combine radicalism with “commitment to ensure stability and progress”For François Hollande, it cannot be compared to the NFP because, in 1936, the company was devastated by “an unstoppable and inventive movement”, writes in reference to the social movements of the time. In addition, Leon Blum “He convinces himself to exercise power”while the “rebels”, “despite their proclamations”I just wish “the acceleration of the presidential calendar”.
You have 46.12% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
