Ensemble!, officially Ensemble – Movement for a Leftist, Ecologist, and Solidary Alternative (), is a French

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

political party, defining itself as

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and delibera ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and eco-socialist. It was launched in November 2013 by several smaller groupings.

History

The

Anticapitalist Left Anticapitalistas (, , ), known as Izquierda Anticapitalista (Anti-Capitalist Left, IA) until January 2015 and as Espacio Alternativo (Alternative Space, EA) from 1995 to November 2008, is a socialist political organisation that works as a confe ...

(), a group formed in 2011 as a tendency within the Trotskyist-influenced

New Anticapitalist Party The New Anticapitalist Party ( , NPA ) is a far-left political party in France founded in February 2009. The party launched with 9,200 members and was intended to unify the fractured movements of the French radical Left, and attract new activ ...

(which it left in 2012) advocating an electoral strategy based on unity with other anti-neoliberal and anti-capitalist forces, in particular the Left Front; , a "red-green" organisation founded in 1988, some of whose roots go back to the Unified Socialist Party (French: Parti Socialiste Unifié, PSU), and influenced by the movement for

workers' control Workers' control is participation in the management of factories and other commercial enterprises by the people who work there. It has been variously advocated by anarchists, socialists, communists, social democrats, distributists and Christi ...

or self-management (French: "autogestion"). The (Fédération pour une Alternative Sociale et Ecologique, FASE), a group formed in 2008, including many former members of the French Communist Party, and including the association Communistes Unitaires. The membership of Ensemble is thus made up of activists coming from various left-wing and radical political traditions: altercommunist, trotskyist, feminist, "red-green", ecologist, etc., as well as trade unionists and global justice activists (alterglobalists). Paid-up membership in June 2015 was approximately 1,200 (internal sources), with several hundred sympathisers. The movement is a member of the Left Front (French: Front de Gauche), which also includes the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

and the Left Party (French: (Parti de Gauche)). The candidate of the Left Front, Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the Left Party, obtained 11.1% of the votes in the first round of the

2012 French presidential election Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round Two-round system, run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territ ...

. Ensemble aims towards strengthening the Left Front by building a broad movement against austerity. It opposes all forms of inequality, racism, and oppression, including

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

, and

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, and seeks to develop links with anti-capitalist groupings outside the Left Front, including more left-wing members of Europe Ecology - The Greens (French: Europe Ecologie-Les Verts). Internationally, it has been involved in discussions and joint activities with the Party of the European Left, Podemos (Spain),

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance (), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA ( ; ; a pun on the Greek adverb , meaning "from the roots" or "radically"), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politi ...

(Greece),

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

(Ireland), the Left Bloc (Portugal), and others. Ensemble was formally constituted at a conference held 31 January-1 February 2015 in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis). Considering that the merger process had been successfully completed, most of its founding groups then decided to dissolve themselves. A national delegate meeting takes place in principle 3 times per year. A national coordinating committee ("Equipe d'Animation Nationale, EAN") meets weekly. Its spokespersons include Myriam Martin, Clémentine Autain and Jean-François Pellissier. Two former Members of Parliament, Jacqueline Fraysse and François Asensi, both former communists who left the

in 2010, were, until it was dissolved in 2015, members of the FASE, one of the original constituent groups of Ensemble. An unknown number of local elected officials (including Mayors) and councillors are also members or associates of Ensemble. Philippe Marlière, professor of political science at University College London, and a long-standing member of the

French Socialist Party The Socialist Party ( , PS) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in France, political party in France. It holds Social democracy, social democratic and Pro-Europeanism, pro-European v ...

, and later of the New Anticapitalist Party, joined Ensemble in February 2015. The headquarters of the movement is in Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis), near Paris. Ensemble! has a website which is regularly updated, and publishes bulletins, leaflets, and occasional brochures. Members of the movement are free to publish articles on the website, using a blog facility. The movement holds an annual summer school (French: 'université d'été') in August. The first was held in Pau, with approximately 300 participants. The second took place at the university of Bordeaux from 22 to 26 August 2015, attracting approximately 420 participants.

References

{{Authority control 2013 establishments in France Fourth International (post-reunification) Party of the European Left Political movements in France Political parties established in 2013 Socialist parties in France