O
ne year ahead of the French presidential election, it would be misguided to criticize the multitude of projects and proposals that have emerged in recently published books or updated party doctrines. France is facing such profound geopolitical shifts and domestic challenges – linked to, among other factors, an aging population and mounting debt – that the absence of proposals would be cause for concern. Gabriel Attal, Raphaël Glucksmann, François Bayrou, Bruno Le Maire, Elisabeth Borne: Many have put forward their ideas.
In this context, the work undertaken by the Parti Socialiste (PS, left) deserves particular attention. The Socialists, unable to select a candidate and have their choice accepted by a significant number of allies, have chosen to revisit their doctrine after having suffered a string of electoral setbacks that threatened to relegate them to obscurity. It is worth recalling that, in the last presidential election in 2022, Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo garnered just 1.75% of the vote, trailing her radical left-wing rival, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, by 20 points.
The text, directed by MEP Chloé Ridel, an ally of Socialist leader Olivier Faure, aims to propose a "new socialism for the 21st century," all while proclaiming social democracy obsolete: It condemns "predatory capitalism," celebrates freedom as a social struggle given the persistence of major inequality, challenges a mode of production and consumption that "encourages predation and waste," rejects the polarization of society, and reaffirms the party's European orientation.
