The French election - the intellos wade in....
France without pontificating intellectuals would be like a fish without a bicycle, would it not?
"We need to draw up a diagnosis of society that is as precise as possible, as the French political crisis, above all, comes from there" - an unnamed prof at the ENS (What was that quote from Brecht suggesting the DDR should sack the proletariat and choose a new one?)
And, "It is a movement which is exerted in two directions, notes Thierry Pech, reviews editor of 'the Republic of Ideas': the political world seeks to understand society in a more operational way and the intellectual world seeks to become more useful." It is a good news, for a society which appeared condemned to what the historian Marcel Gauchet called a 'theory hangover'".
And then, "Max Gallo, who wrote on "the silence of the intellectuals" in 1983 in Le Monde explains this movement: "In 1981, we were in an old France, over determined by the actions and analyses of '30s then by those of the cold war. Then, for a long period, the intellectuals of the '80s withdrew themselves. But then there was the collapse of the USSR and globalisation. Today, there is a new generation of intellectuals who are no longer satisfied to be [merely] experts, and policy is back on the agenda."
And.... "Even if the rupture between the left and academia is not completely healed post Claude Allègre, Ségolène Royal has effected a disconnect between socialist culture and her, which could be a positive sign."
And finally, the most astonishing outbreak of 'look at me maman!' from sociologist Christian Baudelot of the ENS : "Sarkozy hates science, hates intellectuals, so - all things considered, all of our reasons for living".
Elsewhere, Jacques Vergès, a far left barrister in France who makes our lefty lawyers look like lightweights when it comes to 'the struggle' is now suspected of having passed on information to Carlos the Jackal, (one of his many delightful clients, along with Klaus Barbie) which would have been useful in an attack on a train carrying Jacques Chirac. He offered to defend Saddam, and unconfirmed rumours place him in Cambodia during the horror that was the rule of the Khmer Rouge.
"We need to draw up a diagnosis of society that is as precise as possible, as the French political crisis, above all, comes from there" - an unnamed prof at the ENS (What was that quote from Brecht suggesting the DDR should sack the proletariat and choose a new one?)
And, "It is a movement which is exerted in two directions, notes Thierry Pech, reviews editor of 'the Republic of Ideas': the political world seeks to understand society in a more operational way and the intellectual world seeks to become more useful." It is a good news, for a society which appeared condemned to what the historian Marcel Gauchet called a 'theory hangover'".
And then, "Max Gallo, who wrote on "the silence of the intellectuals" in 1983 in Le Monde explains this movement: "In 1981, we were in an old France, over determined by the actions and analyses of '30s then by those of the cold war. Then, for a long period, the intellectuals of the '80s withdrew themselves. But then there was the collapse of the USSR and globalisation. Today, there is a new generation of intellectuals who are no longer satisfied to be [merely] experts, and policy is back on the agenda."
And.... "Even if the rupture between the left and academia is not completely healed post Claude Allègre, Ségolène Royal has effected a disconnect between socialist culture and her, which could be a positive sign."
And finally, the most astonishing outbreak of 'look at me maman!' from sociologist Christian Baudelot of the ENS : "Sarkozy hates science, hates intellectuals, so - all things considered, all of our reasons for living".
Elsewhere, Jacques Vergès, a far left barrister in France who makes our lefty lawyers look like lightweights when it comes to 'the struggle' is now suspected of having passed on information to Carlos the Jackal, (one of his many delightful clients, along with Klaus Barbie) which would have been useful in an attack on a train carrying Jacques Chirac. He offered to defend Saddam, and unconfirmed rumours place him in Cambodia during the horror that was the rule of the Khmer Rouge.
Labels: Extreme Left, France
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 2:46 pm.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
I think Maitre Verges (half-Viet) was defending Barbie-doll on the basis that everyone has the right to a lawyer. Also a British tradition?!
The superb Brecht quote was about dissolving the electorate and appointing a new one. I'd love to quote that against a lefty.
Agreed, although he does seem to positively relish acting for particularly loathsome individuals. In each case it would seem to be part of an extreme left, almost Situationist, agenda.
Having checked, the full Brecht quote, in German is:
"Wäre es da
Nicht doch einfacher, die Regierung
Löste das Volk auf und Wählte ein anderes?
And indeed, well worth quoting at people....
Nothing changes, I resigned as a gerant of a French company, as it was impossible to make the company work because of these pseudo intellectuals occupying Trade Union and Departmental jobs.
» Post a Comment