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French Socialists, Capitalism and the State: A Unique Approach within West European Social Democracy?

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European Socialists and the State in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements ((PSHSM))

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Abstract

Without denying the existence of a state ethos among the French socialist elites, Fulla shows that when we view French socialism through the culture and economic practices of its main leaders and experts, the thesis of exceptionalism does not hold true. On the contrary, there are profound similarities in the way different West European socialists conceive and utilise the democratic state within the capitalist system from 1918 through to the present day. If French socialists accord the centralised state a more important place in their doctrine and their rhetoric—though not in their governmental practice—this is best explained through the heritage of a national statist culture transcending party affiliations rather than as a unique and independently invented approach.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Michel Rocard, Speech at the PS Congress, Nantes, 18 June 1977, www.archives-socialistes.fr [accessed 28 May 2018].

  2. 2.

    Jean-Pierre Cot and Dominique Taddeï, “Vous avez dit socialisme?” Le Monde, 14 September 1984.

  3. 3.

    British Labour Party, 1918 Labour Party General Election Manifesto, http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1918/1918-labour-manifesto.shtml [accessed 30 May 2018].

  4. 4.

    For example see Sidney Webb, “English Progress towards Social Democracy”, Fabian Tract no. 15, London, The Fabian Society, November 1893, http://webbs.library.lse.ac.uk/18/1/FabianTracts15.pdf [accessed 28 May 2018].

  5. 5.

    BLP, Labour and the Nation, London, The Labour Party, 1928, p. 21 (60 p.). SFIO, “Le programme du Parti socialiste pour les élections législatives de 1928”, Paris, Librairie populaire, 1928, pp. 27–28 (64 p.).

  6. 6.

    SFIO, “Le programme du Parti socialiste…”, op. cit., p. 12.

  7. 7.

    Léon Blum, “L’expérience Roosevelt. La position socialiste”, Le Populaire, 8 October 1933. Robert Marjolin, “Les expériences Roosevelt”, Les Cahiers du socialisme, 5, 1934.

  8. 8.

    For a detailed presentation of this schism, see Alain Bergounioux’s chapter in this volume.

  9. 9.

    Economic Survey for 1947, presented by the prime minister to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, February 1947, 36 p., Archives départementales de l’Aveyron, Fonds Ramadier, 52J 155.

  10. 10.

    Jules Moch, “La politique financière du parti”, Le Populaire, 27–30 March 1945.

  11. 11.

    Parti socialiste SFIO, “Une expérience socialiste: la Suède”, lecture talking points, fact sheet no. 1, undated (probably 1950), p. 1 (4 p.), OURS, Fonds PS SFIO, Arguments et Ripostes.

  12. 12.

    See the chapter by Jenny Andersson and Kjell Östberg in this volume.

  13. 13.

    “Belgians adopt a new programme”, Socialist Affairs, no. 2, March–April–May 1974, pp. 28–30, p. 29.

  14. 14.

    “Report on Multinationals”, Socialist Affairs, no. 6, November–December 1978.

  15. 15.

    Pierre Rosanvallon, “Le socialisme français et la peur de la social-démocratie”, Faire, no. 41, 1979.

  16. 16.

    “Nationaliser. Pourquoi? Comment?” Repères (the CERES magazine), no. 43, May 1977. Michel Rocard, “La social-démocratie et nous”, Faire, no.41, 1979, pp. 11–25.

  17. 17.

    “Mitterrand, the Monetarist”, Financial Times editorial, 20 April 1990.

  18. 18.

    François Hollande, press conference, 13 November 2012, https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2012/11/15/la-politique-de-l-offre-de-hollande-une-vraie-rupture-dans-l-histoire-de-la-gauche_1790391_823448.html [accessed 18 March 2020].

  19. 19.

    “Schröder à la française”, Stuttgarter Zeitung, 15 January 2014. “Der Dritte Weg des François Hollande”, Deutsche Welle, 15 January 2014. “Frankreich: Die zweite Überraschung des Monsieur Hollande”, Welt Online, 15 January 2014.

  20. 20.

    Michel Rocard, “Instruction générale au gouvernement pour la lutte contre le chômage”, handwritten note, 10 July 1988, p. 3 (6 p.), Archives Nationales, Fonds Michel Rocard Premier Ministre (1988–1991), Papiers de Jacques Mistral (economic adviser to the prime minister), 19940192/1.

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  1. Sciences Po Paris, Paris, France

    Mathieu Fulla

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    Mathieu Fulla

  2. Centre of History, Sciences Po Centre of History, Paris, France

    Marc Lazar

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Fulla, M. (2020). French Socialists, Capitalism and the State: A Unique Approach within West European Social Democracy?. In: Fulla, M., Lazar, M. (eds) European Socialists and the State in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41540-2_15

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