Note the language of the petition, or at least the bits quoted - an interesting exercise would be to compare the language, symbolism, and rhetorical strategy of this document with the writing of those on the US left who successfully shot down Bush's Social Security privatization in 2005.]
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http://artgoldhammer.blogspot.com/2010/04/bourdieu-resurrected.html
Bourdieu Resurrected
In advance of a government push toward an ultimate solution of the retirement conundrum, a group of intellectuals, trade union leaders, and political leaders from the left of the Left and the left wing of the Socialist Party have launched a petition calling for a "broad mobilization of citizens" to stop what they see as an attack on a venerable French institution and linchpin of the French social model. The complexion of this group is reminiscent of the coalition that formed around the late Pierre Bourdieu in the wake of the massive 1995 strikes against Alain Juppé's proposed reforms.
But this time the sequence is reversed. In 1995, there had seemed to be a consensus of intellectuals and unions in favor of the reforms before the strike. The virulence of the public reaction came as something of a surprise to both government and reformists outside of government, and Bourdieu's intervention became a rallying point for a dissidence that revealed a real cleavage among the ranks of intellectuals (see Gérard Noiriel's analysis in Les fils maudits de la République). Now--for the time being, at any rate--moderate reformists outside the government are relatively quiet, and the dissidence is raising its voice in advance of any popular protest, as if to lead a future movement rather than follow it (in the footsteps of Ledru-Rollin, who famously said, "Je suis leur chef, il fallait bien les suivre"). It remains to be seen where popular sentiment actually lies on this issue. It may be that the public mind has evolved since 1995. Or again, it may be that the relatively mild reaction to the reform of the special regimes back in 2007, when Sarkozy was at the height of his popularity, has lulled the government into a false sense of security.
With Sarkozy having retreated or been forced into a defensive posture on so many other fronts (Copé is now even calling for maintaining advertising on public TV during the daytime, and UMP opposition to the tax shield has not lessened), retirement reform is likely to loom as the defining issue of Sarkozy's presidency. Make or break, just as health care reform was in the United States. This may tempt his many enemies to go for broke in an all-out effort to defeat him as we move into the next presidential season. How the Socialists deal with this issue will therefore be a defining moment for them as well. They presumably will not want to sign on with the new rejectionist front. But where is the middle ground? What will they propose instead? Posted by Arthur Goldhammer at 9:30 AM
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Le Monde April 7, 2010 Left intellectuals and economists denounce pension reform
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/imprimer_element/0,40-0@2-823448,50-1330012,0.html
Days away from the release of the report of the Conseil d'orientation des retraites (COR) [Pensions Steering Council, commission made up of business, labor and government officials that reports to the prime minister], the association ATTAC and the Fondation Copernic are issuing an appeal, Wednesday April 7, at the Paris Labor Exchange.
In it, some 370 personalities from the labor, political, and associational Left, but also from the milieu of economists and sociologists, denounce "the fatal blow to the system of pensions by redistribution" and call for "a vast citizen mobilization" to support a different path.
The petitioners take unsparing aim at government reforms envisaging the elimination of the legal age of retirement at 60, the undermining of the policy of calculating pensions based on the last six months of earnings in the public sector, and the lengthening of the contribution period.
They also question the proposals of the COR envisaging the establishment of a system based on points. "This would mean," the text denounces, "no longer guaranteeing a defined rate of earnings replacement in advance and making variation in the level of pensions the means by which the pension systems are balanced financially."
For these protestors, all these roads lead to "a social regression" - not due to the demographic constraints invoked, but to the logic of public spending reduction that has been in operation for months. They therefore are suggesting that to strengthen the pensions system the economic reasoning be reversed, and call especially for "an increase in taxes on wealth produced." The additional financing needed by the pension system is said to have been estimated by the COR, in 2007, at 1 to 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) through 2050. This represents a "feasible" increase in light of "the explosion in dividends," which have risen from 3.2% to 8.5% of GDP in the past 25 years, the signers insist. "The financing of pensions is possible by putting an end to the shameless redistribution of wealth to the benefit of financial incomes," they further write. They call on the left to "break this taboo" and thus to make a political choice "of justice and solidarity."
The appeal, signed by the three unions most involved in this subject - CGT, FSU and Solidaires - and the radical left such as the Communist Party, the New Anti-capitalist Party, and the Left Party, has also rallied the Greens, in the person of Cecile Duflot, their national secretary, and a few Socialist Party figures close to Benoit Hamon [a prominent figure on the party's left], such as Razzy Hammadi, Regis Juanico or the European Parliament member Liem Hoang-Ngoc.
The document also carries the signatures of prestigious sociologists such as Robert Castel, Luc Boltanski, the philosopher Patrick Viveret, personalities such as writer Susan George, the president of the Syndicat de la magistrature [judges' association/union] Clarisse Taron, and the leader of the collective Sauvons la recherche [defending higher education], Georges Debregeas.
But it is above all the 90 or so economists present who lend particular credence to the initiative. Names can be found from the milieu of economics who are not accustomed to taking this type of politically committed action: André Orléan, Olivier Favereau and François Eymard Duvernay, founders of l'Ecole de la régulation, Henri Sterdyniak, pension specialist at l'Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (OFCE) [highly respected, mainstream Keynesian think tank], Jean Gadrey, former member of the Stiglitz Commission on economic indicators.
The appeal thus marks a return of intellectuals to the political debate that has hardly been seen since Pierre Boudieu's appeal of solidarity with the 1995 strikes.
Beyond collecting well known signatures, the initiators intend to contribute to "a vast citizen mobilization to stop this juggernaut." The appeal is to serve as resource for public meetings and local committees. "We seek to create a current of opinion on the substance of the issue capable of showing that there are other solutions," explains Pierre Khalfa of the union Solidaires.
At the same time, the initiative risks bringing to light divisions within the left. Contacted for comment, the Socialist leadership did not respond. It is difficult to find a consensus position on the defense of the pension system when Francois Hollande [the previous party leader] or Manuel Valls [the only prominent Socialist who seems to be openly a Blairite] have openly spoken in favor of a lengthening of the contribution period [i.e., a lengthening of the working life].