Abstract
Frédéric Moulène provides an examination of how marketization has gained support in France, even though the country has historically been amongst the most reluctant to embrace neoliberalism. The starting point to Moulène’s reflections is the socialist government’s recent Responsibility and Solidarity Pact, which provides generous tax cuts to companies in return for their contributions to job creation. The chapter builds on Polanyian theoretical concepts to develop an original analysis of political communication in the wider context of pertinent French experiences and debates.
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Notes
- 1.
Smith (2004), professor of history, has articulated several clichés, in semi-journalist style, bemoaning “French dogmatism” and claiming to detect opposition to reform systematic of anti-globalization behaviour, and an alleged inability to question the national model.
- 2.
In 1997, the left governed France but for its new government there was no question of going back to 1981. This refutes the idea that the PS of today had not changed its agenda and resembles Labour before Blairism.
- 3.
All translations are the author’s.
- 4.
In 2000, the socialist government of Lionel Jospin adopted a measure to decrease the working week from 39 hours to 35. The principle was intended to yield a better division of labour and reduce unemployment.
- 5.
The Revenu Minimal d’Insertion (created in 1988 under Mitterrand) provides support for people without any income who are of working age but not entitled to access the unemployment compensation system.
- 6.
The Revenu de Solidarité Active was aimed at encouraging low-income people to earn more by working while receiving welfare benefit.
- 7.
The ISF was created in 1981, after Mitterrand’s electoral victory. It is an annual property tax for households with assets in excess of €1,300,000. (Date: 1 January 2014).
- 8.
The Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), previously close to the Communist Party, still has clear left-leaning positions. By contrast, the Force Ouvrière (FO) was anti-communist during the Cold War and had cordial relations with the right but adopted a critical tone in the 1990s.
- 9.
Since the first days of Hollande’s presidency several measures presaged fiscal exemptions to companies committed to hiring workers. (for example crédit d’impôt pour la compétitivité et l’emploi, 2012).
- 10.
Between 2003 and 2005, Schröder based his reforms of the German labour marked on the recommendations of a commission led by Peter Hartz. In summary, this implemented a “welfare to work principle” through reduction of unemployment benefits, reinforced incentives to work and so on.
- 11.
The Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail, after being a “self-managed socialist movement” in the 1960s and 1970s, replaced the FO in the 1990s as the negotiating partner of employers and governments. The Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens supports the social Christian tradition and seems to be the employers’ favoured partner. The Confédération Générale des Cadres (CFE-CGC) is a moderate union for executives.
- 12.
Blair and Schröder agreed on the manifesto “Europe: The Third Way/Die Neue Mitte” in 1999 when they were in power. They wanted to renew the agenda of European social democracy by reconciling social justice and economic dynamism. In France, Jospin rejected this approach: “if the third way seeks to be placed between social-democracy and liberalism, I do not associate myself with comments like that.” (See “Le socialisme européen”, 1999: 47).
- 13.
Sarkozy, for his part, had strongly denounced “those who commit welfare fraud” (“Nicolas Sarkozy: discours à Périgueux”, 2006).
- 14.
Many liberals (for example Ludwig von Mises 1950) state that Keynes rephrased Say in order to defend his alternative theory. The Keynesian reformulation is a fact but it is not certain that Keynes consciously tried to distort the original meaning of Say’s principle.
- 15.
Dixon mentions Blair’s progressive discourse and policy regarding the House of Lords Act 1999 (that reduced the power of hereditary peers), devolution of the Scottish parliament (1998), new rights given to gays and lesbians (1997) in contrast with the conservative aspects of its economic measures.
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Moulène, F. (2016). France in Times of the “Responsibility and Solidarity Pact”: “Neoliberal Normalization” or a Laboratory of New Resistance?. In: Karner, C., Weicht, B. (eds) The Commonalities of Global Crises. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50273-5_2
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