Version imprimableOn 6 May 2007, the governmental left’s defeat opened up the way for the most reactionary right, incarnated by Sarkozy, the bosses’ and billionaires friend. The social war they are waging means daily violence and repression. It is part and parcel of capitalist globalisation, striving to pit the workers of the entire world against one another, the better to exploit them all. The masters of the world have embarked upon a mad race for profit threatening our very survival, pillaging and destroying the planet. This system produces crises on a regular basis and peoples always foot the bill. Imperialist wars accompany social and environmental ones.
The governmental left’s policy is impotent because it subscribes to the logic of profit, competition and challenges to public services. To carry out his rapid-fire offensive against the majority of the population, Sarkozy has state power, the bosses have Medef (French employers’ association). And what effective means can we call upon to take the people’s expectations onto the political field? What means do we have to build mobilisations that ensure wealth is shared differently?
It is urgent to take back the offensive. In recent years, discontent, revolt and a new commitment to resist have come forth. Hope lies in the broad mobilisations, struggles of wage earners, young people in educational institutions and poor neighbourhoods, struggles of those “without”… But too often these wind up in blind alleys, when trade unionism co-operating with management takes over from class struggle and social change trade unionism.
There is a desperate need for an instrument promoting convergence among struggles that is able to put the powers that be on the retreat and change the balance of power. Imagining that another world is possible is also essential to raise hopes. There are many among us who want such an instrument: a party meeting the needs of contemporary mobilisations. A party to prepare a radical, revolutionary change in society, in other words, the end of capitalism, private property of the means of production, the pillage of our planet and destruction of nature.
We want a society able to meet social needs, rid of all forms of exploitation and oppression based on class, gender, age or origin. A society in which democracy does not stop at the ballot-box and everyone can a part in decision-making.
The LCR national congress issues a call to everyone: individuals, activist groups, political currents, wanting to join together in an activist, national and democratic organised political framework, a party building international links with forces defending such a perspective.
We speak to women and men of all origins, with or without papers who think their lives are worth more than profits: to youth who answer “resistance!” in the face of attempts to leave them a precarious future: to activists in community groups and trade unionists who take action every day in their neighbourhoods or on the job; to socialist, anti-neoliberal and communist activists, to all national and local political organisations or currents, who think it is time to unite, beyond former divisions, and above all those who have not found a party appealing enough to get involved…
We aim for a party that builds upon the experience of yesterday’s and today’s struggles: labour, global justice, internationalist, ecologist, feminist and antiracist. A party struggling against exploitation, against all forms of oppression and discrimination and for individual and collective human emancipation. Building an internationalist party that refuses policies that pillage the global South and the militaristic logic of France, the European Union and the United States. An independent party, which counter to the Socialist Party for example, refuses to co-manage this system. A party breaking with capitalism and ruling-class institutions. A democratic party whose project allows people to lead their own mobilisations to be in a position to take charge of society and the economy. This means building a party to invent 21st Century socialism.
Through this address, we want to undertake a constituent process without delay, culminating in the founding of a new anticapitalist party.
In workplaces, on the job and at school, in our neighbourhoods, on all local, regional and national levels, now is the time to join forces to organise action committees to take part in building this collective instrument. These committees will then federate on all levels, town by town, in each department, in each sector and throughout France. They will be called upon to conduct their own political activities and interventions as well as discussions and initiatives aiming to build an effective collective dynamics.
From the time we first take stock of our progress, local forums and national meetings will contribute to a democratic mode of functioning, respecting diversity of opinions and life paths, opening up preparatory work for the founding congress of the new party.
This party will belong to everyone committed to it. It is up to everyone who wants a party of our own to decide and build it together!
