France: What’s REALLY happening

The times we are living in are anything but ordinary. In the last twelve months alone, more than 57 countries have seen significant anti-government protests. Right now, France is at the centre of the storm.

On Saturday 17 October, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in the biggest day yet of the movement against education cuts. The state answered with more than 19,000 stun grenades in a single day.

Peaceful marches were ambushed, minors were rounded up, and one young student lost an eye. Sunday evening Macron went on television and refused to resign, making the movement’s goal crystal clear: he and his government have to go.

In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Jorge Martín of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to discuss where the movement goes from here.

They look at the curfews, protest bans and attacks on La France Insoumise that show the real face of bourgeois democracy, why the government has nothing to offer with borrowing costs at their highest since 2002, and why the CGT has been forced to call for a general strike on 5 November. With general strikes also called in Spain and Italy, and mass movements from Brazil and Colombia to Indonesia and India, the stage is set for a much wider wave of struggle.

But one thing is still missing: a revolutionary leadership capable of taking the movement to victory. Building it is the task of the hour.

New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.

📖 Recommended reading 📖 France: 17 October mobilisations put revolution on the agenda https://marxist.com/france-17-october-mobilisations-put-revolution-on-the-agenda.htm The Civil War in France https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1871/commune-may30.htm

⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️ 0:00 France on the brink 2:44 October 17: who provoked the violence? 12:15 The road to a general strike 21:52 Hypocrisy of the ruling class 28:28 The deep crisis of French capitalism 33:20 A global wave of revolt 47:17 The missing factor: revolutionary leadership

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