Union of the communist students

The Union of the communist students (UEC) is an organization Politique French coed , which belongs to the Mouvement communist Young people of France (MJCF). It was founded for the first time in 1939, then dissolved after the war. It was recreated in 1956, at the same time as the MJCF.

The UEC is autonomous compared to the PCF, although it of it is close. It maintains with this one the political exchanges, in particular on the coeds questions. It organizes in sectors, by university, and is directed by a national collective, elected official at the time of the congress of the MJCF. Its national secretary is Igor Zamichiei.

History

Revolutionary socialist students with the UEC: 1920-1939

The UEC, if it were founded in 1939, is resulting from a great number of student groups, with more or less important manpower and the lifespan, of which oldest go back to the any end of. However, one can date emergence from the communist student movement at 1920, in parallel with the creation of the Communist youth and the French Communist party. As for these two organizations, it is the question of adhesion to the III {{E}} Internationale which leads to its creation.

Among the notable student groups from which the UEC is resulting, one finds in particular the Étudiants revolutionary Socialists , of which Philippe Robrieux note which the members were “neither all student, nor all revolutionary with the common direction of the term, but often anarchistic Socialists” (a great part resulted from the Étudiants revolutionary Socialists internationalists, group with dominant anarchist). This group adheres to IIIe Internationale at the time of its congress, the July 12th 1920, that is to say four months before the creation of Communist youth and five before the creation of the SFIC (the future PCF). He becomes then the Student revolutionary collectivists and account among his members Nguyễn Sinh Cung, later known under the name of Ho Chi Minh.

After the creation of Communist youth, then of the International Communist of the young people (ICJ), the ICJ estimates that the existence of a movement studying independent of the youth movement is not a form of relevant organization: she absorbs Interationale of the communist students then whereas the French communist students have to join the JC. The students are however not the priority of the new JC: France counts in 1920 only 50.000 students, very mainly resulting from the middle-class. The academic world is very hostile to the Communists, and the groups of right-hand side, in particular related to the French Action, are very present there. The communist presence within the universities weakens in an important way, and remains weak until the beginning of the year 1930: the station of person in charge of the students disappears besides quickly from the direction from the JC.

In the years 1920, there remains an organization progressist, the Federal union of the students, in whom find the majority of the communist students, of which Danielle and Laurent Casanova, which was two leaders. This organization comprises many not-Communists however and suffers from difficulties of establishing a clear orientation, due to the ambiguity of its nature between political association and student trade union. If it is very minority, the UFE is not a bunch, since it counts several thousands of members. Its manpower will be reinforced besides by the adhesion of the Étudiants Socialists in 1935. On the other hand, no stable communist organization appears before 1938: one however notes Clarté the university group of Georges Cogniot, related to the Clarté movement of Paul Valiant-Dressmaker and Henri Barbusse.

The first stage of the rebirth of the communist movement studying is the World congress of the students against the war and the Fascism, organized in Brussels in December 1934, one year after the World congress of the youth of Paris. In parallel, the direction of the JC again counts a person in charge of the students in the person of Aime Albert in 1935, station which is transformed into “secretary with the students” with the Congress of Marseilles of the JC, in 1936. In 1937, the various groups of communist students are structured using a “national secretariat of the communist students of France”. The students also publish their first newspaper, Relève .

The national conference constitutive of the Union of the communist students takes place the 1 {{er}} and April 2nd 1939: it then counts thousand members and of the groups in all France, in particular in Paris, Toulouse, Grenoble and Strasbourg (this last group was animated by Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont). The principal combat of these groups is then the fight against Fascism, in a difficult context related to the Accords of Munich. The UEC gathers mainly students then, but also of the high-school pupils of the big classes: the Union of the communist students becomes besides at the beginning of the war the Union of the students and communist high-school pupils, joined by the high-school pupils resulting from the Congress of the high-school pupils antifascists.

Scissions

The tendencies and members indicated as “gauchists” by the UEC are excluded in 1966, they will be particularly active in the revolt coed of May 68. Exclusions have as a primary reason is the adhesion of members (like Alain Krivine) to the ideas trotskists criticizing and rejecting hard the Stalinisme and its derivatives, which leads to the formation of the revolutionary Communist youth (JCR, trotskists). That is to say rupture of members with the the USSR preferring to support the Maoism and the China, thus creating the Union of Communist youths Marxist-Leninists (UJC (ml), Maoists).

Organization

The UEC is organized in local sectors, generally corresponding to a university or a campus. The sectors are sometimes gathered on the level of a city or a grouping of cities. It is directed by a national collective of thirty members, elected official at the time of each congress of the MJCF. The national collective elects a national coordination, in charge of the application of the decisions with the collective and organization of its debates, as well as a national secretary.

The UEC is affiliated with the MJCF and thus holds its national meetings generally at the same time as those of the MJCF: thus, the National Assembly of the organizers and the congress of the MJCF give place to meetings coeds. However, the UEC holds sometimes of the national conferences, whose last one took place in February 2005.

Activity

The UEC is one of the only political associations coeds present at the national level, with ATTAC Campus. It is not a Syndicat studied and consequently does not present itself to the elections coeds as such. However at the time of the elections coeds of December 2005 to Aix-Marseilles I, the UEC presented a list which has collected more than 15% of the votes and made elect a vice-president UEC.

The activity of the UEC consists in contributing to the political debate, by organizing debates, carrying out investigations and while informing by means of campaigns of posting and distribution of leaflet, like with the class action suit in the higher education, by organizing actions into various sets of themes or by taking share with the student movements like that against the CPE.

The UEC launched in February 2005 a campaign around a project of “law for the success in the higher education”, of which the final goal is the realization of a law proposing an alternative built to the liberal project for higher education, and in particular with the Processus of Bologna which led to reforms LMD and the bill of modernization of University (LMU, today “autonomy of the universities”). This countryside is held in several phases: a phase of debates and investigation with the students and the other political organizations and trade-union on the state of higher education; a phase of drafting of an assessment in the form of analysis of higher education; a phase of development of proposals and setting in debate and drafting of a platform; and finally, a phase of drafting of a bill. Thus, the elaborate proposals aim at being used as a basis of claims to the next fights.

The UEC also takes share with the student Mouvements, in particular those against LMD in 2003, or with the Mouvement anti-CPE in 2006, taking part in particular in the collective Stop CPE of the youth organizations. In June 2006, it takes part in the collective Unis against disposable immigration and in the creation of the Réseau university without border.

The UEC is established in a big number of universities, of which Parisian universities (Sorbonne, Jussieu, Tolbiac, Censier, Versailles-Saint-Quentin, Paris 8), Aix - Marseilles, Bordeaux, Caen, Grenoble, Lyon, Orleans, Dijon, etc

National secretaries

List congresses and national conferences of the UEC

The UEC, created in 1939, knew only one national conference. Starting from its reconstitution in 1956, and until 1968, it will hold 11 congresses, at the rate/rhythm of one per year. Starting from this date, the renewal of the directions and the changes of status are done at the time of the meeting coed of the congresses of MJCF (see the list of the congresses of the MJCF).

Publications

Clearness : resulting from the university newspaper Clearness (1922-1924), initially published by the communist students of Paris of 1947 with 1956 then by the Union of the communist students of 1956 with 1965
the new Clearness : of 1965 with 1996 (monthly or semi-monthly)
Clarté is reappeared in 2006, published by the communist students of Paris, then taken again at the national level at the time of the congress of December 2006.

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