Olivier Besancenot
Encyclopedia
Olivier Besancenot (born on 18 April 1974) is a French far left political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party
(Nouveau parti anticapitaliste, NPA) from 2009 to 2011.
He was a candidate for the 2007 French presidential election
, for the Ligue communiste révolutionnaire
(LCR), the French section of the Fourth International. He gained 1.2 million votes, 4.25%, standing as a revolutionary socialist
in the 2002 presidential elections
. In the first round of the 2007 presidential election
, Besancenot received 4.08% of the vote, just short of 1.5 million votes, placing him fifth and eliminating him from the race.
In May 2011, Besancenot announced that he would not be standing in the 2012 presidential election
. He is succeeded as main spokesperson of the NPA by Myriam Martin and Christine Poupin.
in the Hauts-de-Seine
Region, (France). His father, Michel Besancenot, was a teacher and his mother a psychologist
at a school.
He studied history at University of Paris X (Nanterre)
, gaining a degree in contemporary history. Since 1997 he has worked as a postal carrier
in Neuilly-sur-Seine
, a suburb of Paris, and is often dismissed by his right-wing
opponents as "The Red Postman."
and Roseline Vachetta
, Besancenot is one of three spokespersons for the Ligue communiste révolutionnaire (LCR), a far left political party which is the French section of the reunified Fourth International
, an international Trotskyist
group.
Besancenot, however, eschews the Trotskyist label:
Besancenot's engagement in left-wing politics started early. He joined the Revolutionary Communist Youth (Jeunesses communistes révolutionnaires) (JCR) in 1988 when he was 14.
When at university studying for his history licence he formed a branch of the Confédération générale du travail
trade union
in the supermarket, Shopi, where he worked.
In 1991 he joined the LCR. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Sud-PTT
trade union. He took a break from his job at the postal services in 1999 and 2000 to serve as a parliamentary attaché to Alain Krivine in the European Parliament
.
In 2001 and 2002, he participated in the World Social Forum
at Porto Alegre
.
He gained national prominence when he stood for the 2002 French presidential election
. At 28 he was the youngest presidential candidate in the country's history. Standing on a revolutionary
socialist platform he gained 1.3 million votes, 4.25% of the total. Among voters under the age of 25 he gained 13.9 percent, beating Lionel Jospin
and Jean-Marie Le Pen
. In the run-up to the second round of voting, Besancenot urged voters to ensure that the far-right Le Pen did not gain power, by re-electing Jacques Chirac
, despite his own misgivings about Chirac's political positions.
Besancenot ran again for the 2007 presidential election
.
Besancenot slogan throughout the campaign was Nos vies valent plus que leurs profits ("Our lives are worth more than their profits"); and he campaigned for redistribution of wealth, an increase in the minimum wage
, prohibition of layoffs for profitable companies, and taxation of profits from capital speculation. He stood for political and electoral independence of the anti-capitalist left
from the Socialist Party
(Parti Socialiste, PS) and against its participation in a centre-left government. Besancenot was endorsed by British filmmaker Ken Loach
, known for depictions of working-class struggles. His campaign's closing rally, in Paris, was attended by 4,000, the largest meeting organised by the LCR or its predecessors since 1968. Besancenot gained 1,498,581 votes or 4.08%, around 300,000 votes more than 2002. He is the first in votes and in dominant position among candidates to the left of the Socialist Party's candidate, Ségolène Royal
. For the second round of the elections, Besancenot, after calling for participation stated that "On 6 May, we will be on the side of those who want to prevent Nicolas Sarkozy from attaining the presidency of the republic. It is not a matter of supporting Ségolène Royal but voting against Nicolas Sarkozy.", fighting the Right in the street as well as at the ballot boxes. After the victory of Sarkozy in the second round, Besancenot and LCR call for "a united front
of all the social and democratic forces [...] to organise a response faced to the extreme neoliberal and repressive programme of Sarkozy."
This led, in June 2008, to the launching of the New Anticapitalist Party
(Nouveau parti anticapitaliste, NPA), intended to unify the parties and movements of the far left. The party aims to field its first electoral candidates at the 2009 EU parliamentary elections
. Whilst plans were being put in place for the formation of this party, Besancenot was able to capitalise on the infighting occurring in the PS in the summer of 2008, as its members prepared to convene at La Rochelle
for their annual party leadership contest. His popularity continued to increase, as he remonstrated the PS for focusing its attention on him, and not the incumbent president, Sarkozy. Besancenot told French TV, a medium in which he found himself in greater demand, that, "It's up to the population to get there [force a revolution] one way or another"; he also told a LCR conference that the left had been failing in its opposition. One poll showed Besancenot's approval rating to be at 47%, far exceeding two of the main candidates for the PS leadership, Royal (35%) and François Hollande
(31%). It was suggested in some media that, were Besancenot and the NPA to convert their popularity into votes (gaining up to a 7 or 8 per cent share), a splintering of the left-wing in France between Marxists and pro-marketeers, similar to that which occurred at the 2002 presidential elections
, could happen.
commented, the day before the charges were confirmed: "A businessman who sells weapons to the Ministry of the Interior arrested, that's very disorderly. Particularly when he may be suspected of having had one of the most prominent politicians trailed by a private company directed by a former police officer."
New Anticapitalist Party
The New Anticapitalist Party is a French political party founded in February 2009. Its name was originally intended to be temporary; a vote on the name being held at the founding congress on 6–8 February 2009, where NPA won over "Revolutionary Anticapitalist Party" with 53% of the vote.The party ...
(Nouveau parti anticapitaliste, NPA) from 2009 to 2011.
He was a candidate for the 2007 French presidential election
French presidential election, 2007
The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...
, for the Ligue communiste révolutionnaire
Revolutionary Communist League (France)
See Revolutionary Communist League for the other Ligue communiste révolutionnaire.The Revolutionary Communist League was a French democratic revolutionary socialist political party. It was the French section of the Fourth International...
(LCR), the French section of the Fourth International. He gained 1.2 million votes, 4.25%, standing as a revolutionary socialist
Revolutionary socialism
The term revolutionary socialism refers to Socialist tendencies that advocate the need for fundamental social change through revolution by mass movements of the working class, as a strategy to achieve a socialist society...
in the 2002 presidential elections
French presidential election, 2002
The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
. In the first round of the 2007 presidential election
French presidential election, 2007
The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...
, Besancenot received 4.08% of the vote, just short of 1.5 million votes, placing him fifth and eliminating him from the race.
In May 2011, Besancenot announced that he would not be standing in the 2012 presidential election
French presidential election, 2012
The 2012 French presidential election is the next presidential election, to be held on 22 April and 6 May 2012, the latter being used for a run-off if necessary...
. He is succeeded as main spokesperson of the NPA by Myriam Martin and Christine Poupin.
Biography
Olivier Besancenot was born on 18 April 1974 in Levallois-PerretLevallois-Perret
Levallois-Perret is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.-Name:The name Levallois-Perret comes from two housing developments, Champerret and Village Levallois , and which resulted in the incorporation of the...
in the Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
Region, (France). His father, Michel Besancenot, was a teacher and his mother a psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
at a school.
He studied history at University of Paris X (Nanterre)
University of Paris X: Nanterre
Paris West University Nanterre La Défense formerly called Paris X Nanterre is a French university in the Academy of Versailles. It is one of the 13 successor universities of the University of Paris. It is located in the western suburb of Nanterre, near La Défense, the business district of Paris...
, gaining a degree in contemporary history. Since 1997 he has worked as a postal carrier
Mail carrier
A mail carrier, mailman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman , postman/postwoman , letter carrier or postie is an employee of the post office or postal service, who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses...
in Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
, a suburb of Paris, and is often dismissed by his right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
opponents as "The Red Postman."
Stance
Along with Alain KrivineAlain Krivine
Alain Krivine is a leader of the Trotskyist movement in France. He is a member of the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire , which is the French section of the reunified Fourth International. He was a member of the LCR's political bureau until March 2006, when he resigned from that committee...
and Roseline Vachetta
Roseline Vachetta
Roseline Vachetta is a French Trotskyist politician.She became a member of the Revolutionary Communist League and in 1999 was elected to the European Parliament. She lost her seat in 2004, but remains one of the LCR's three spokespersons.-References:...
, Besancenot is one of three spokespersons for the Ligue communiste révolutionnaire (LCR), a far left political party which is the French section of the reunified Fourth International
Reunified Fourth International
The Fourth International is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International Committee, reunited, electing a United Secretariat of the Fourth International...
, an international Trotskyist
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
group.
Besancenot, however, eschews the Trotskyist label:
- I'm neither Trotskyist nor GuevaristChe GuevaraErnesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
or LuxemburgistRosa LuxemburgRosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
, I'm a revolutionary. And revolution needs to be reinvented, for no revolutionary experiment has ever succeeded. Some of them ended up as bloody caricatures.
Political life
When at university studying for his history licence he formed a branch of the Confédération générale du travail
Confédération générale du travail
The General Confederation of Labour is a national trade union center, the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.It is the largest in terms of votes , and second largest in terms of membership numbers.Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995-96 The General...
trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
in the supermarket, Shopi, where he worked.
In 1991 he joined the LCR. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Sud-PTT
Sud-PTT
Sud-PTT is a French trade union created in fall 1988 after the exclusion of more radical elements from the CFDT-PTT. CFDT is a union generally considered as the most open for negotiation and reforms. It is sometimes criticized for this approach, sometimes by its own members...
trade union. He took a break from his job at the postal services in 1999 and 2000 to serve as a parliamentary attaché to Alain Krivine in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
.
In 2001 and 2002, he participated in the World Social Forum
World Social Forum
The World Social Forum is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil, which offers a self-conscious effort to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemonic globalization...
at Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
.
He gained national prominence when he stood for the 2002 French presidential election
French presidential election, 2002
The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
. At 28 he was the youngest presidential candidate in the country's history. Standing on a revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
socialist platform he gained 1.3 million votes, 4.25% of the total. Among voters under the age of 25 he gained 13.9 percent, beating Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
and Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
. In the run-up to the second round of voting, Besancenot urged voters to ensure that the far-right Le Pen did not gain power, by re-electing Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
, despite his own misgivings about Chirac's political positions.
Besancenot ran again for the 2007 presidential election
French presidential election, 2007
The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...
.
Besancenot slogan throughout the campaign was Nos vies valent plus que leurs profits ("Our lives are worth more than their profits"); and he campaigned for redistribution of wealth, an increase in the minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
, prohibition of layoffs for profitable companies, and taxation of profits from capital speculation. He stood for political and electoral independence of the anti-capitalist left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
from the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
(Parti Socialiste, PS) and against its participation in a centre-left government. Besancenot was endorsed by British filmmaker Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
, known for depictions of working-class struggles. His campaign's closing rally, in Paris, was attended by 4,000, the largest meeting organised by the LCR or its predecessors since 1968. Besancenot gained 1,498,581 votes or 4.08%, around 300,000 votes more than 2002. He is the first in votes and in dominant position among candidates to the left of the Socialist Party's candidate, Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
. For the second round of the elections, Besancenot, after calling for participation stated that "On 6 May, we will be on the side of those who want to prevent Nicolas Sarkozy from attaining the presidency of the republic. It is not a matter of supporting Ségolène Royal but voting against Nicolas Sarkozy.", fighting the Right in the street as well as at the ballot boxes. After the victory of Sarkozy in the second round, Besancenot and LCR call for "a united front
United front
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...
of all the social and democratic forces [...] to organise a response faced to the extreme neoliberal and repressive programme of Sarkozy."
This led, in June 2008, to the launching of the New Anticapitalist Party
New Anticapitalist Party
The New Anticapitalist Party is a French political party founded in February 2009. Its name was originally intended to be temporary; a vote on the name being held at the founding congress on 6–8 February 2009, where NPA won over "Revolutionary Anticapitalist Party" with 53% of the vote.The party ...
(Nouveau parti anticapitaliste, NPA), intended to unify the parties and movements of the far left. The party aims to field its first electoral candidates at the 2009 EU parliamentary elections
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
. Whilst plans were being put in place for the formation of this party, Besancenot was able to capitalise on the infighting occurring in the PS in the summer of 2008, as its members prepared to convene at La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
for their annual party leadership contest. His popularity continued to increase, as he remonstrated the PS for focusing its attention on him, and not the incumbent president, Sarkozy. Besancenot told French TV, a medium in which he found himself in greater demand, that, "It's up to the population to get there [force a revolution] one way or another"; he also told a LCR conference that the left had been failing in its opposition. One poll showed Besancenot's approval rating to be at 47%, far exceeding two of the main candidates for the PS leadership, Royal (35%) and François Hollande
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Hollande is a French politician. From 1997 to 2008, he was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party. He has also served as a Deputy of the National Assembly of France, representing the first constituency of Corrèze, since 1997. He previously represented that seat...
(31%). It was suggested in some media that, were Besancenot and the NPA to convert their popularity into votes (gaining up to a 7 or 8 per cent share), a splintering of the left-wing in France between Marxists and pro-marketeers, similar to that which occurred at the 2002 presidential elections
French presidential election, 2002
The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
, could happen.
The "Besancenot affair"
In October 2008, seven people—including the leader of the Taser France company, the two leaders of a private detective agency, two police officers, a retired police officer, a customs officer and one other person—were arrested and charged with several offences related to their having allegedly spied on Besancenot and his family, including the illicit divulging of information on his private life, the violation of professional secrecy and "fraudulent access to automated data processing systems". They were accused of having spied on them between October 2007 and January 2008. The "Besancenot affair", as it was called, received significant media attention. LibérationLibération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
commented, the day before the charges were confirmed: "A businessman who sells weapons to the Ministry of the Interior arrested, that's very disorderly. Particularly when he may be suspected of having had one of the most prominent politicians trailed by a private company directed by a former police officer."
Published works
- Tout est à nous (2002), ISBN 2-207-25309-0, Denoël
- Révolution (100 mots pour changer le monde, 2003), ISBN 2-290-33828-1, FlammarionGroupe FlammarionGroupe Flammarion is the fourth largest publishing group in France, comprising many units, including its namesake, founded in 1876 by Ernest Flammarion, as well as units in distribution, sales, printing and bookshops . Flammarion became part of the Italian media conglomerate RCS MediaGroup in 2000...
- Che Guevara: His Revolutionary Legacy (2009), ISBN 978-1-58367-177-1, Monthly Review Press, with Michael Löwy.
See also
- Ligue communiste révolutionnaireRevolutionary Communist League (France)See Revolutionary Communist League for the other Ligue communiste révolutionnaire.The Revolutionary Communist League was a French democratic revolutionary socialist political party. It was the French section of the Fourth International...
(LCR) - The reunified Fourth InternationalReunified Fourth InternationalThe Fourth International is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International Committee, reunited, electing a United Secretariat of the Fourth International...
- New Anticapitalist PartyNew Anticapitalist PartyThe New Anticapitalist Party is a French political party founded in February 2009. Its name was originally intended to be temporary; a vote on the name being held at the founding congress on 6–8 February 2009, where NPA won over "Revolutionary Anticapitalist Party" with 53% of the vote.The party ...
- Sud-PTTSud-PTTSud-PTT is a French trade union created in fall 1988 after the exclusion of more radical elements from the CFDT-PTT. CFDT is a union generally considered as the most open for negotiation and reforms. It is sometimes criticized for this approach, sometimes by its own members...