One can define the second left like a culture Politique characteristic of the left French evoked by Michel Rocard at the time of the Congrès of Nantes in 1977. It would be in opposition with the first left based exclusively on a Marxisme to the Frenchwoman and the heritage Jacobin of the French revolution. The second left is distinguished, in the theory, by the absence of ideological claims unilateral and Bureaucratie exacerbated and, by the practice, means of action which leave the simple political sphere of activity, by resting in particular on the associative medium and trade-union. The second left presents the originality to have components (which were found historically within PSU) energy of the catholics social-reformists to the conseillists while passing through the social democrats or the trotskists.

The second left was born at the origin in reaction to the “Totalitarisme” (the Hungarian crisis of 1956) and to the Colonialisme (the Guerre of Algeria), the first partially guaranteed by the communist left of the time (the PCF), the second still little put in debate by the socialist parties democratic of the first left (SFIO of Guy Mollet). The second left also found its bases in a dispute of the Constitution of Ve République in 1958. Characters - keys of the second left were in particular Michel Rocard, Alain Savary, Edouard Depreux, Pierre Mendès France (for the Socialists), Jean Poperen and Gilles Martinet (for the Communists), Edmond Maire for the CFDT, as well as intellectuals like François Furet, Serge Mallet, Jacques Julliard and Pierre Rosanvallon.

Political and social history of the Second left

The birth (1956-1964)

As a such second left its name will gain only towards the end of the year 1970 but it is truly between 1954 and 1956 qu ' it occurs.

The birth of the second left results initially from a refusal of all that approaches the totalitarian left. Precisely, since the death of Stalin, many dissenting groups of the great parties were born in order to be detached from the old marked bureaucracies to be too close to the colonial past (SFIO) or to still too strongly support the totalitarian modes (PCF). These dissenting groups are found in majority in the opposition to the Guerre of Algeria.

The PSA (autonomous Socialist party) which comprises the Socialists who left SFIO in 1956 because of their dissension with the Algerian policy of Guy Mollet takes the name of PSU (Socialist party unified) in 1959 by thus gathering the social democrats of PSA (in particular Rocard, Mendès-France, Savary, Martinet), the dissenting Marxists of the PCF around Jean Poperen and François Furet of the group Tribune of Communism , the Christians of left of the Union of the socialist left. Many members of PSU are then carrying bags for FLN and PSU provides analyzes on the Guerre of Algeria which attract all the progressists of the left antitotalitaire. Michel Rocard in particular was the author, under a pseudonym when he is outgoing administrator of ENA in the offices of the French Army during his military service in Algeria, of the Rapport on the camps of regrouping in Algeria . PSU is the only political party with clearly requiring the independence of Algeria while the PCF remains on ambiguous positions and that SFIO is closed again on itself. In 1962, PSU federates, on the left, reformists and revolutionists who do not find their place in a SFIO and a PCF considered to be antiquated nor in formations such as FGDS of Mitterrand too judged electoralist, even jacobine according to Michel Rocard. PSU thus represents the second political left in full expansion in the middle of the years 1960.

On the level of the labor movement, the second trade-union left will appear at the time of the deconfessionnalisation of the CFTC. The central trade-union adopts the Marxist diagram of the class struggle. They are Marxist Christians around the current Reconstruction carried out by Eugene Descamps which, in their rejection of the monopoly of the CGT on the Marxist trade unionism and in their will to make a new laic trade union, gives rise to the CFDT in 1964. The CFDT preaches the Autogestion in the companies.

The action (1964-1974)

PSU, the second left political thus, will approach the CFDT since the party, also, adopts to him the Autogestion like economic principle. Moreover, the trade unionists of the CFDT are in the sociological analysis of Serge Mallet in his work the new working class . Nevertheless, the PSU, which has a working base joining together 19% of the members, has, certainly as a majority of the workers cedetists, but also of the adherent workers with FO and some with the CGT.

The PSU which, in the middle of the years 1960, is an ideological laboratory for the French political left and is then with the point of progressionism on many subjects which will be taken again later by the future PS of François Mitterrand (decentralization, for example). PSU refuses some time the gaullism before deciding to remain a party protestor which will take part however in the legislative and presidential elections. PSU with the characteristic to join together in its center of the sensitivities of all kinds. Thus the day before May 68 PSU includes/understands 53% of members claiming Marxism of which 3% claim Marxism-Leninism (Maoism), 1% of the trotskism, 1% of the luxembourgism (conseillism), 1% of the libertarian Marxism; 20% of the members claim laic humanism; 18% of democratic socialism; 7% of Christianity and 2% are not attached to any ideology. The line of the party is represented by the traditional Communists, the center by the social democrats, the modernistic ones and the social catholics (Michel Rocard) and the left by the groups of obedience trotskists or Marxist-Leninists (Marc Heurgon). Pierre Mendès France is the media figure of the PSU which plays the part of plug between the party and the Fifth Republic.

The advent of the second left is in May 68. The second left concentrates many assets between these hands: the ideological tolerance in its center; a central trade-union in full growth, the CFDT; the sympathy of many clubs of reflection close to its ideas (Club Jean Moulin); newspapers which supports it like the Express train and France Observer (ancestor of the Observateur and the Nouvel Observateur); the control of UNEF, therefore of the principal central trade-union coed (Jacques Sauvageot, vice-president of UNEF, is member of ESU - Student Unified Socialists and of PSU). Of May 68 in the middle of the years 1970 it is thus the golden age of the second left. Thus, at the time of the events of May 68, the second left takes part in full in the extraordinary social movement which France knows during a few months.

The role played by the second left during May 68 was not studied in serious historical publications as recalled by Jean-Pierre Goff, in its work May 68, the impossible heritage . Nevertheless, beside libertarian current and of the current gauchist which are main actors of the events of May 68, the current of the left second contributes fully to the movement. In May 68, the service of order of the demonstrations is held beside JCR by UNEF and PSU; the strikes are partly started in factories held by the CFDT where attempts at self-management will succeed partially; the second political and trade-union left is that which carries the claim further by supporting all the initiatives from the libertarian current (UNEF supports Daniel Cohn-Bendit and requires its presence with the demonstrations in spite of the protests of the PCF); the CFDT succeeds in tearing off, during the negotiation of the Accords of Grenelle, the creation of the local unions of company while noting that the Accords of Grenelle are modest and that they sign the death of the dispute of May; finally the second left organizes a gigantic meeting gathering all the progressists of May 68 at the Charléty stage, are in particular present Edmond Maire, Jacques Chereque, Pierre Mendès France, Marc Heurgon and Michel Rocard. The attempt of the second left to propel Mendès France to the capacity will not lead because of the refusal of this one.

After May 68, the second left is per hour of the assessment. Even if it rejoins with it brilliant thinkers (Cornelius Castoriadis and Claude Lefort, François Furet and Pierre Rosanvallon) and recognized sociologists (Serge Mallet, Alain Touraine). It is clear that now there are two currents opposed in the second political left, a current reformist modernisator and a revolutionary current near to the extreme-left. Before the loss of power of PSU, two events which mark the history of the second left take place. In 1971, the demonstrations on Larzac are carried out and organized by PSU against the extension of the military camp. This mobilization gathers during a few days all the left progressist. In 1973, the factory Lip where the CFDT is majority puts in strike and sign the greatest success of the French labor movement as a practitioner a complete Autogestion.

With rise to power of the New Socialist party then Socialist party and after the defeat of Savary (this one left PSU with the beginning of the year 1960) vis-a-vis Mitterrand, PSU is exhausted and even if the currents of extreme-left are marginalized with the congress of Toulouse of 1972, the party is led gradually towards a political dead end. Michel Rocard leaves PSU and joined the PS with the Assises for Socialism in October 1974. Trade unionists of the CFDT, in particular Jacques Chereque and Jacques Delors, but also the clubs and associations (Christian Testimony) close to the second left are also present.

The second political left disappeared as such and exists now within the Socialist party of François Mitterrand where Michel Rocard animates a social democrat current reformist with the Christians of left in the mitterrandienne majority. The history of the PSU which had been a share of the history of the second left stops in 1974. The CFDT considers its centring as from this same time, centring which it will really apply since 1978.

Persistence (1974 at our days)

The rallying with the PS does not want to say the end of the second political left. It always exists but its independence is not any more and it must live beside other political trainings of left within the PS, like CERES of Jean-Pierre Chevènement. Besides the current of Sitted (rocardiens) accounts for nevertheless 15% of the militants of the PS in 1975. Michel Rocard integrates the executive office of the PS into the same time.

In June 1977, with the congress of Nantes, Michel Rocard affirms the autonomy of the second left within the PS to oppose two cultures which would cross the French left today: “ Second left, decentralizing, regionalistic, heiress of the self-management tradition, which takes into account the participative steps of the citizens, in opposition on a First left, jacobine, centralizing and official. ” This speech makes that Michel Rocard and its partisans puts at back the left of the PS carried out by Jean-Pierre Chevènement as well as part of the mitterrandiens.

After the defeat of legislative of 1978, Michel Rocard notes that “a certain style of policy, a certain archaism are condemned”. These remarks are badly perceived by the mitterrandists and at the time of the congress of Metz in April 1979, Michel Rocard combined with Pierre Mauroy east demolishes by François Mitterrand and Laurent Fabius combined with CERES of Jean-Pierre Chevènement. Consequently, with the adoption of a socialist project very chevenementist and the renouncement of Michel Rocard to arise against François Mitterrand at the time them internal elections in order to designate the candidate with presidential, the second political left is marginalized for a time within the PS.

Between 1981 and 1988, the second political left lives in the shade of the capacity of François Mitterrand. However, Rocard, being appointed Prime Minister in 1988, succeeds in placing men of the second left at the government. Several political building sites are then marked under the sign of the left second: reconciliation in New Caledonia (in the line line of the actions in favor of Algerian in the years 1950), the revalorization of teaching and pedagogy and the administrative reform which engages the process of decentralization.

At the time of the Congress of Rennes in March 1990, the situation interns with the PS led Michel Rocard to be combined with Lionel Jospin against Laurent Fabius. This involves a degradation with the executive power élyséen. Michel Rocard is évincé of its post of Prime Minister in May 1991.

In spite of its call to " a big-bang politique" in 1993 at the time of the speech of Montlouis-sur-Loire where he recommends an alliance which federates center with the Socialists and ecologists with the renovating Communists, he loses at the evening of the second turn his seat of deputy like the four fifths of the outgoing deputies.

The collective resignation of the management committee of the PS is voted on April 3rd and a provisional direction is elected marginalizing the historical mitterrandists (Laurent Fabius). In October, Michel Rocard is elected first secretary of the PS, the second left takes the control of the party.

In June 1994, the second left and Michel Rocard undergo a counter-offensive mitterrandist and Michel Rocard is reversed at the national council to be replaced by Henri Emmanuelli. Michel Rocard moves away from the political life and Jacques Delors recovers what remains second left and of its political networks.

Jacques Delors refuses nevertheless to be presented to the presidential election of 1995 and opens the way with Lionel Jospin that Michel Rocard and the second left will support against the mitterrandists joined together in particular around Laurent Fabius thereafter.

The come to power in 1997 of the plural left carried out by Lionel Jospin allows a union of the solid left during three years before fissuring. The defeat of April 2002 is partly put on the back of a policy marked jospinist to have been too " second gauche" or not rather on the left during 5 years. Against the second left which accepts now the market economy and a certain economic liberalism, is opposed a more traditional left, etatist and sometimes antilibérale.

May 29th, 2005, the principal representatives of the second political left invite to yes vote with the European Constitutional treaty.

The CFDT rejoined with the beginning of the year 1970 with self-management socialism rejects the principle according to which an trade-union organization directs the social claim and regards the trade unionism as an instrument with the service of the workers. Until 1978, the CFDT affirms its revolutionary identity and its theory of the spontaneism. These topics involve a certain infiltration in the power station on behalf of militants trotskists or Maoists.

However as from 1974 with the Sitting for socialism where cedetists are present, the central trade-union redefines its line. With the beginning of the year 1980, it develops the thesis of the defense of the workers according to economic realities as well as the theory of the contractualisation which aims initially at direct negotiations between owners and trade unions without passing by the State. The contractualism of the CFDT becomes then with reformism one of its characteristics. The CFDT dissociates then fully from a CGT remained particularly etatist, his support for the Polish trade union Solidarnosc at the end of the years 1980 constitutes one of the examples of this opposition.

Nevertheless, the contractualism preached by Nicole Notat and the majority current clearly reformist with beginning of the year 1990 involve the exclusion of certain cedetists federations which form the trade union CUS. The CFDT joined completely on the great social questions, at the end of the 20th century, the second political left. In the line reformist, in May 2002, the working trade unionism of the second left is then represented by Francois Chereque, general secretary of the CFDT which replaced Nicole Notat with the last congress.

In the studied medium, the second left had massively invested in UNEF. But as from 1970, because of the revolutionary drift of the UNEF which became the toy of the bunches, this one is forsaken by PSU itself which since 1962 had however enormously invested in the power station. In 1971, ESU leave definitively the national office of UNEF. A scission with side the UNEF-Revival follows from there controlled by the Union of the communist students (UEC) who wish to take part in the elections coeds, on another side the trade-union UNEF-Unit gathering the current trotskist (majority) as well as the students close to PSU and of the CFDT.

In 1980 east creates UNEF-ID (Independent and democratic) gathering trotskists, students of the Mouvement of union action (former students of the MARC, Mouvement of action and research criticizes) and the évincés mitterrandiens of the UNEF-Revival. UNEF-ID quickly becomes controlled by students close to the various currents of the PS and organize the tendencies of UNEF according to the socialist tendencies. In 1986, during the movement studied against the Project Devaquet, the second left coed is also represented by the trade union, supported by the CFDT, PSA (For a self-management trade unionism). Between the end of the year 1980 and 1995, the second left coed of UNEF (the Tendency Future, then the Tendency To rebuild, close to the tendency rocardienne PS) takes part fully in the war of the currents by tying alliances according to the situations. A minority part Reconstruire tendency is transformed into Tendency for a trade-union alternative (TPAS) before taking the name of trade-union Tendency.

In 2001, UNEF-ID and UNEF-SE (Solidarity coed, new name of the UNEF-Revival) choose the reunification. The trade-union Tendency carried out by Julie Coudry breaks with the direction of UNEF shown to radicalize and give up reformism since the reunification. The second left coed causes a scission of UNEF in 2001. The departure of tendency TS led to the creation of the Confederation coed in 2003, creation supported by the CFDT.

Second left today

The second left today exists only in a diffuse way at the political level (a minority with the PS through on the one hand, on " the gauche" the current Utopia which denounces " the worship of the growth for the croissance" and in addition, on " the droite" , of the modernistic Socialists, sometimes qualified liberals) but remains very strong at the trade-union level (CFDT for the employees, Confédération coed for the students) and associative (the République of the ideas of Pierre Rosanvallon, the movement Sauvons Europe). Among intellectuals, the current historiographic launched by François Furet in the years 1980 is very close to a reading of the history suitable for the second left. The publications which still propose the ideas of the second left finds in the booklets of the review Esprit and the writings of Joël Roman. Today the component official heiress resulting from PSU are Alternate the, a self-management political party of extreme left. Finally in the French political scene, the party which approaches more of the ideas the second left are the Greens although certain personalities of the PS and of the European left are regarded as pertaining to the second left (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Zaki Laïdi, Dominique Méda). In October - November 2006, Ségolène Royal borrows certain topics of her internal campaign for the socialist investiture from the Second left (the idea of participative democracy in the form of " jurys of citoyens" , the environmental concern, questions of decentralization, etc) but all while being located, not without ambiguity, in the heritage of the mitterrandism.

At the end of August 2007, meet in the theater of the Villette, Gracques, groups initially made up of senior officials and Socialist personalities resulting from the second left. The summer school of Gracques, great appointment of the personalities of the second left of today (Francois Chereque, Julie Coudry, Michel Rocard, Jean Daniel, etc) is fixed like objective during three days to give tracks, summarized through a Proclamation of the modern left, for refonder the French left and the PS more particularly. Taking support on the foreign experiments reformists (in particular British with A. Giddens and Italian with W. Veltroni), Gracques through an association proposes to undertake until the next congress of the PS the work of recasting that the first secretary of the PS, François Holland, and the candidate beaten with presidential of 2007, Ségolène Royal, called their wishes after the defeat vis-a-vis the right-hand side, on May 6th, 2007.

Second left, the heritage of the ideas to the 21e century

French self-management way of the second left, two types of left can be affiliated there, they are the heiresses:

- a left known as liberal which refuses the " all-État" and which accepts the market economy, it is precisely the current thought of Michel Rocard and certain Socialists close to the ideas developed by Anthony Giddens in his political and economic theory of the Third way,

- a left known as alternative which preaches the bearable Décroissance, the redefinition of the tools of economic measure and altermondialism but while being detached from the current of thought which would like to see the universalization controlled by the States. This second left massively finds at the Greens.