The New Anticapitalist Party (french: Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste ,
abbreviated
An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
NPA) is a
far-left
Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...
political party in France
This article contains a list of political parties in France.
France has a multi-party political system: one in which the number of competing political parties is sufficiently large as to make it almost inevitable that in order to participate in ...
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 activists drawing on the combined strength of far-left parties in the
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
presidential elections, where they achieved 10.44% of the vote, and 7% in
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
and 13% in
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
.
The party is closely associated with postal worker
Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Christophe Besancenot (; born 18 April 1974) is a French left-wing political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party (''Nouveau parti anticapitaliste'', NPA) from 2009 to 2011.
He w ...
, the main spokesman of the former strongest far left party, the
Revolutionary Communist League (LCR). In March 2011, and were elected the main spokespersons of the NPA.
[ In May 2012, Myriam Martin supported the candidate of the Left Front, ]Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône from 2017 to 2022. He led the ''La France Insoumise'' group in the Nation ...
in the 2012 presidential election against the candidate of the NPA, a worker and union activist at Ford's car plant in Bordeaux Philippe Poutou
Philippe Poutou (; born 14 March 1967) is a French far-left politician, former trade unionist and car factory worker. He was the New Anticapitalist Party's candidate in the presidential elections of 2012, 2017 and 2022, in which he respectively r ...
, who came eighth in the first round with 411,160 votes, 1.15% of the total votes. She left the NPA in July 2012.
Founding conference
At the founding conference (6 to 8 February 2009), 630 delegates voted on a series of documents, which had gone through a long process of amendment and re-amendment in local and regional assemblies.
* The first document "Founding principles" detailed the party's analysis of the impasse of capitalism and the need for both mass mobilization, and, in the long term, the overthrowing of existing institutions.
* The second document was the provisional rulebook, which will remain in effect until the next conference.
* The third document was the Perspectives document, which attempted to set out priorities for the year ahead, and key demands to be pushed for in the immediate future.
* Finally, a document on the European elections expressed the attitude of the party towards the June European elections.
A number of contentious issues within the party, especially those relating to secularism, religion, and Islamophobia, were left open for further debate, leading to a number of difficulties and a tendency to devote considerable time and energy on internal debates, rather than activity. The party's name was originally intended to be temporary; a vote on the name was held at the founding congress, where NPA won over "Revolutionary Anticapitalist Party" (''Parti anticapitaliste révolutionnaire'') with 53% of the vote.[''Le Monde'' (Paris), 9 November 2008]
Structure
Besancenot has stated that it has no single leader and is instead run collectively, being represented by elected spokespersons. The basic structure of the party is the local committee, which organises local activities. A National Political Council decides on general policy. Delegates to the Council are elected at the congress on a proportional basis, ensuring the representation of different tendencies or platforms.
Ideology
The party's stated aim is to "build a new socialist, democratic perspective for the twenty-first century".
Olivier Besancenot has said that the party will be " the left that leads anticapitalist
Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as ...
, internationalist
Internationalist may refer to:
* Internationalism (politics), a movement to increase cooperation across national borders
* Liberal internationalism, a doctrine in international relations
* Internationalist/Defencist Schism, socialists opposed to ...
, antiracist
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 deliberate a ...
, ecologist
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
, feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
struggles, opposing all forms of discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
". The LCR's distinctive identification with Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...
was not continued by the NPA. Unlike in previous LCR documents, although feminism is very present, patriarchy theory is not mentioned. Such issues as the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, a rise in the minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
and public services, however, are accepted by all members of the NPA.
The party's candidate for the 2022 French presidential election
The 2022 French presidential election was held on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. Macron, f ...
, Philippe Poutou
Philippe Poutou (; born 14 March 1967) is a French far-left politician, former trade unionist and car factory worker. He was the New Anticapitalist Party's candidate in the presidential elections of 2012, 2017 and 2022, in which he respectively r ...
, said in an interview for Franceinfo
France Info (; stylized as franceinfo:) is a French domestic rolling news channel which started broadcasting on 31 August 2016 at 6:00 p.m. on the Web. TV broadcasting began on 1 September 2016 at 8:00 p.m. on most TV operators ( Bou ...
that he would amnesty all "political prisoners" if elected, such as members of the FLNC
The National Liberation Front of Corsica ( co, Fronte di liberazione naziunale di a Corsica or ; french: Front de libération nationale corse, abbreviated FLNC) was a militant group that advocates an independent state on the island of Corsica, s ...
and ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
, and condemned France's "colonial attitude" in both Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
and The Basque Country
The Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herria; es, País Vasco; french: Pays basque) is the name given to the home of the Basque people. Trask, R.L. ''The History of Basque'' Routledge: 1997 The Basque country is located in the western Pyrenees, st ...
.
Alliances and splits
Debate continues within the NPA about what sort of alliances with other groups are acceptable. The majority of militants emphasize the dangers of allying with forces which are likely to end up in joint local or national governments with the Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
(PS). A minority believes there is work to be done in wide alliances with antiliberal parties of the left, such as the Party of the Left (PG).
In January 2009, the NPA signed a joint declaration with several other parties of the left, calling for the building of the 29 January national strike. A minority (16%) claimed that such unity in the strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
movements means sufficient basis can be found for joint slates at the European elections
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Until ...
, while the majority made a sharp distinction between alliances for social movements and electoral alliances. The party received 4.98% of the vote in the European election. Discussions were held in the course of 2009 with other parties to the left of the PS, concerning the possibility of joint slates for the regional elections in 2010. Finally, the NPA presented independent lists in a majority of regions, but joined the Left Front in three regions, and the Left Party in two others.
Since its foundation, the NPA has suffered a number of breakaways, and by the beginning of 2015 total membership had declined to 2,100, compared with 9,200 at the time of its Founding Conference in February 2009. In addition to the loss of individual members, three organised groups have left the party in order to join the Left Front: Gauche Unitaire in 2009, Convergences et Alternative in 2011, and the largest of the three, Anticapitalist left (''Gauche Anticapitaliste'') in July 2012. In addition, failure to reach the required level of support in the presidential and parliamentary elections has deprived the party of state funding, leading to a financial crisis. As a result of these setbacks, the NPA is engaged in an internal debate with the aim of refounding the party and reforming its internal structures. However, the NPA continues to be active in various social movements. It produces a weekly newspaper, ''Tout est à nous !'' (originating as a slogan to be chanted on demonstrations, the name roughly translates as "Everything Belongs to Us!") and a monthly magazine of the same name.
In December 2013, the Revolutionary Marxists faction in the Fourth International
The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of wor ...
declared the Anticapitalism and Revolution current in the NPA and criticized the reformist orientation of the party. In June 2021, almost 300 members of the Revolutionary Communist Current faction (''Courante Communiste Révolutionnaire'', CCR) left the party after being excluded from participating in the NPA congress and national conference, and the rejection of the pre-candidacy of CCR member Anasse Kazib as the NPA nominee for the 2022 French presidential election
The 2022 French presidential election was held on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. Macron, f ...
.
The NPA was in discussion to join the New Ecologic and Social People's Union
The New Ecological and Social People's Union (french: Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale, link=no, NUPES) is a left-wing alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance includes La France Insoumise (LFI ...
(NUPES) for the 2022 French legislative election
Legislative elections in France were held on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of the 16th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic. The elections took place following the 2022 French presidential election, which was held in A ...
. After the PS joined the union, the NPA announced it would not enter the coalition due to insurmountable ideological differences with the PS; they also said they would support the coalition's more radical left-wing candidates.
In December 2022, the party, at the 5th congress, announced the departure of an un-specified group of people from many of the different splits and individual sectors inside the party. The new direction of the party follows "Platform B", an organisation plan aimed at being the framework of the future of the party, having gained 48% of the votes on the voted where other 2 alternative frameworks were proposed. It has been annunced as of December 11th 2022 that the NPA's majority would follow the lead of the most prominent figures in the group, like Philippe Poutou
Philippe Poutou (; born 14 March 1967) is a French far-left politician, former trade unionist and car factory worker. He was the New Anticapitalist Party's candidate in the presidential elections of 2012, 2017 and 2022, in which he respectively r ...
, Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Christophe Besancenot (; born 18 April 1974) is a French left-wing political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party (''Nouveau parti anticapitaliste'', NPA) from 2009 to 2011.
He w ...
, Christine Poupin and Pauline Salingue Pauline may refer to:
Religion
*An adjective referring to St Paul the Apostle or a follower of his doctrines
*An adjective referring to St Paul of Thebes, also called St Paul the First Hermit
*An adjective referring to the Paulines, various reli ...
. The party has also announced a new meeting on January 17th 2023, aimed at clearing up some of the concerns regarding the future of the party and how exactly the split will affect its course.
Hijab controversy
The NPA announced in February 2010 that it was fielding Ilham Moussaïd, a Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
woman, as its candidate in Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
for that year's regional elections. The party's decision was met with criticism from "across the political spectrum" in France, as Moussaïd wears a hijab
In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...
(a headscarf worn by Muslim women) and the announcement came amidst a national debate regarding the wearing of hijabs in public areas. A few weeks prior to the announcement, the NPA denounced bans on hijabs as "Islamophobic
Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism.
The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
and draconian". Tony Todd of France 24
France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market.
Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-M ...
described the party's decision to field Moussaïd as "radical pragmatism" aimed at securing votes from France's Muslim community."Far-left party reveals ‘veiled’ female candidate"
France 24
France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market.
Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-M ...
, 3 February 2010.
Moussaïd describes herself as "feminist, secular, and veiled";
however, critics of Moussaïd argue that hijabs are an affront to women and incompatible with Moussaïd's values. In response, Moussaïd stated in March 2010:
Electoral results
Presidential
See also
*
Criticism of capitalism
Criticism of capitalism ranges from expressing disagreement with the principles of capitalism in its entirety to expressing disagreement with particular outcomes of capitalism.
Criticism of capitalism comes from various political and philoso ...
Sources
"Le Nouveau parti anticapitaliste d'Olivier Besancenot est lancé" Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...
, 29 June 2008
"'Le Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste ne doit pas être une LCR relookée'" ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', 30 June 2008
"Le Nouveau parti anticapitaliste, c'est parti" Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...
, 30 June 2008
Interview (in English) of one activist by the Daily MaybeOngoing coverage on the NPA in LINKS (in English)Anticapitalism and Revolution current in the NPA
References
{{Authority control
2009 establishments in France
Anti-capitalist political parties
Anti-globalization political parties
Alter-globalization
Eurosceptic parties in France
Far-left politics in France
Green political parties in France
Political parties established in 2009
Political parties of the French Fifth Republic
Socialist parties in France
Feminist parties
Socialist feminist organizations