The Left in Europe - Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

the “red belt” around Paris. These traditional constituencies tend to reject
the idea of a “modernization” of the party, representing the communist and
“ouvriériste” legacy of the PCF. They reject a too critical interpretation of
communist history and are impatient with denunciations of Stalinism. For
them the calls to renew and open up the party always amount to a questioning
of the communist identity that has to be preserved. They consider any
discussion about renaming the party to be obsolete. Attempts to point out
that collective identities – given the concrete changes in the nature of work
and modern living, in the social, cultural and political divisions and polarization
of society – have assumed different form nowadays, and that this
influences the perception of communist identity in today’s world, a fact
reflected in discussions within the party itself, are denounced as harmful to
the party. There is a failure to understand that if the PCF is barely able to
reach such important constituencies as young people, women, those with
precarious jobs, and the unemployed, this is due to the party’s outdated
sense of identity and its public perception.
The European elections as a key to further development
France
The PCF at present has two deputies in the European Parliament. To be
successful in the European election campaign it must attempt – based on
the experience of the referendum against the EU Constitution Treaty in
2005 – to get those left-wing elements who voted “No” on that occasion to
join in a broad new social and political alliance. The projected “Left Front
to Change Europe” rallying the PCF, PdG and other political and social
forces could be the motor for a new dynamism and social opening. It is not
clear what this “front” would look like in practice. The NPA is currently
refusing to join in such a front. 5 The various movements are asking that the
alliance should not just be an axis of parties, but also include differently
constituted groups, such as Attac and the spontaneously formed youth
groups from the banlieues with networks beyond the local level, who have
announced an interest in joining.
How far the leading personalities who signed the appeal published by
the periodical “Politis” in summer 2008 for the founding of a new left-wing
force will really succeed in uniting in a new “Fédération”, thus creating a
new pole with a real social base, remains to be seen.
5 The text shows an increasing imbalance in tending to marginalize the NPA, etc. This makes it very
PCF-centred and furthermore focused on a single project. The Left Party too is only mentioned in passing.
This is no doubt due to the sources, but a more balanced view is required.
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