The Front National and French Workers
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- Published on Monday, 07 March 2016 22:00
- Written by editor
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1230 .... March 8, 2016
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The Front National and French Workers
Sebastian Chwala
The class-consciousness of workers in France is diminishing. As early as 1978 opinion surveys revealed a strong unease that went with the sense of society falling into crisis. The most important factors for the preservation of class-consciousness, according to social scientists Guy Michelat and Michel Simon, were the existence of relatively unified and solidary collectives at the lower societal levels (workplace, neighbourhood), and the presence of strong organizations (trade unions, political parties), which were able to assert workers' interests in the political and social spheres, and by whom workers felt themselves to be represented.
In the course of the 1980s the sense of belonging to the working-class fell apart. This accompanied structural changes in industry; persistent... mass unemployment with its destructive effects on individuals and collectivities; and a consequential social consciousness. In the process, the Parti communiste français (PCF) suffered its greatest loss of support, above all among the most leftwing sections of the population, who as a result turned to the Parti socialiste; while the ideology of liberalism began a decade-long stretch of popularity.
The downward trend in the membership numbers of the PCF is striking in a negative sense. In 1979 the party still had more than 700,000 dues-paying members, but by 2001 it was down to some 139,000. From the 1990s onward confidence in institutions began to erode. This was accompanied by a sharp turn toward collective forms of action and a "second break" with leftwing political parties. This time it was the Parti Socialiste that was affected. Voter abstention by the "classe populaire" became subsequently particularly pronounced. This went hand in hand with the further retreat of class references, but did not lead, for the main part, to support for the Front National (FN).
