''Time for Outrage!'' is the English translation of the bestselling tract by the French diplomat, member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

and

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

survivor Stéphane Hessel. Published in France in 2010, it has sold nearly 1.5 million copies in France and has been translated into numerous other languages.Elaine Sciolino
"A Resistance Hero Fires Up the French"
''The New York Times'' (March 9, 2011). Retrieved March 16, 2011

Content

The 94-year-old author starts with a brief reference to his participation in the

at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, pointing out that outrage was at its roots. He then outlines two somewhat contradictory views of history that have both influenced him, that of the French philosopher

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

, who was his teacher at the Ecole normale superieure in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and that of the German writer

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

, who was a colleague and a close friend of his father, Franz Hessel. The author asserts that indifference is the worst of attitudes. He speaks of his experience among the drafters of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

and exhorts young people to look around for topics of indignation. He then presents his own principal indignation at present, the strife in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, the

Gaza strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. He ends the tract by calling for

non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

action and for a peaceful uprising against the powers of

finance capitalism Finance capitalism or financial capitalism is the subordination of processes of production to the accumulation of money profits in a financial system. Financial capitalism is thus a form of capitalism where the intermediation of saving to inves ...

. The opening lines of the booklet were “Ninety-three years old. The last leg of my journey. The end is in sight. I am lucky to be able to seize the time I have left to reflect on my lifelong commitment to politics: the Resistance and the program designed sixty-six years ago by the National Council of the Resistance.”

Reception

In France, published by a small publisher in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, the 32-page booklet sold almost a million copies within the first ten weeks. It was a Christmas best-seller. It has been criticized for being poorly written and too short, but even critics have acknowledged the booklet has tapped into popular anger. In the beginning of January 2011, “Indignez-vous!” was at the headlines of German newspapers, even if the book was not translated at this calendar date into German and only available in French. It has been translated into English, German, Spanish, Galician, Italian,

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

, Finnish, Catalan, Dutch, Portuguese, Turkish, Romanian, Slovenian, Serbian, Greek, Hebrew, and Korean. More translations are planned in Japanese, Swedish, Chinese"Indignez-vous! va paraitre en Chine"
Indigène éditions. Retrieved June 6, 2011 and other languages.

Influence

In 2011, one of the names given to the 2011 Spanish protests against corruption and the

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referr ...

was ''Los Indignados'' (''The Outraged''), taken from the title of the book's translation there (''¡Indignaos!''). The Spanish protests later inspired other protests all around the world, including Greece, Israel and

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement against economic inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial ...

in the United States.

References

External links

Author of ''Time for Outrage!'' Stéphane Hessel interviewed
by Juan González on ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

'' October 10, 2011
''Time for Outrage!''
Charles Glass Books, official website (2011). Retrieved March 17, 2011
Indigène éditions
Official website, French edition. Retrieved March 17, 2011
''¡Indignaos!''
Spanish translation of ''Indignez-vous!'' Retrieved June 12, 2015
Get Involved !
Official website for Stephane Hessel's new book "Get involved !" (Engagez-vous !)
Passive, Silent and Revolutionary: The ‘Arab Spring’ Revisited
This article makes some connections between the Indignados of Spain and Greece and the Occupy movements in the US and UK to the simultaneous "Arab Spring" revolts. {{Authority control Pamphlets 2010 essays

Content

Reception

Influence

See also

References

External links