The Search for a French Way

With most European countries run by parties that identify themselves as social democratic or socialist, the French left faces a dual challenge: establishing sufficient cooperation with its neighbors in order to shape general European policies, and producing a blueprint for reform, a third way, as Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder might call it. This will require a true intellectual revolution in the French left, and its heritage will have to be subjected to critical scrutiny and redefinition. Vague references to greater democracy or social justice will not suffice. These must come with concrete proposals to design the contemporary social landscape.

Almost two years have passed since the Socialist Party’s victory in the National A...