France Follow

For the past ten years various French governments have been trying to break with what they call the "Juppé syndrome".

The French government has decided not to negotiate, so we have called a general strike. The call has come from the trade unions, the youth trade unions and the national coordination committees of students.

Over half of the 82 universities in France are taking part in strike action against the Tory government’s plans. Twenty five universities are in occupation.

Even if spring has not officially begun, the temperature is rising very sharply on the streets in France.

The wave of protest in France reflects anger at the CPE labour law, which would drastically undermine the job security of young workers.

Tens of thousands of workers protested outside the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday of last week against the neo-liberal Bolkestein directive.

Around 400,000 people demonstrated across France on Tuesday of last week against the right wing government’s plans for a neo-liberal "contract for young people".

The Marriage of Figaro, first performed in 1786, is arguably Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most overtly political opera. It is based on a drama by radical French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais.

Since the public sector strikes of November-December 1995 France has been in the vanguard of the resistance to neo-liberal policies in Europe. The French referendum on the European constitution on 29 May 2005 marked a decisive defeat for this attempt by the ruling classes of the continent to hard-wire free market policies into European society.

Around 6,000 dockers attempted to storm the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Monday. Police used water cannons and tear gas to try keep thousands of workers from across Europe away from the EU politicians.

The contemporary French political scene is intensely contradictory, which is one of the reasons it so difficult to comprehend. Insisting on one or other aspect in isolation from the wider context inevitably leads activists and observers to slalom from euphoria to despair in the matter of days or weeks.

The right wing government in France has unleashed a new wave of repression on the banlieues, the poor suburbs that exploded into three weeks of rioting.