Gauche prolétarienne
Political party in France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gauche prolétarienne (GP) was a French Maoist political party which existed from 1968 to 1974. As Christophe Bourseiller put it, "Of all the Maoist organizations after May 1968, the most important numerically as well as in cultural influence was without question the Gauche prolétarienne."[1]
Proletarian Left Gauche prolétarienne | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | GP |
| Leader | Benny Lévy |
| Founded | September 1968 |
| Dissolved | November 1973 |
| Split from | UJC(ml) |
| Newspaper | La Cause du peuple |
| Ideology | Mao-Spontex Maoism Libertarian Marxism |
| Political position | Far-left |
History
The GP was formed in October 1968. After a split in the Union des jeunesses communistes marxistes-léninistes (UJC-ML), several members including Olivier Rolin, Jean-Pierre Le Dantec, Jean-Claude Vernier, brothers Tony and Benny Lévy, Jean Schiavo, Maurice Brover, and Jean-Claude Zancarini formed the new party. In 1969, former student union leaders Alain Geismar and Serge July joined the group.[1]
Prominent people who were at one point members of the GP include Serge July, Olivier Rolin, Frédéric H. Fajardie, Gérard Miller, Jean-Claude Milner, Marin Karmitz, André Glucksmann, Gilles Susong, Christian Jambet, Guy Lardreau, Daniel Rondeau, Olivier Roy, Judith Miller, Dominique Grange, and Gilles Millet. A group of former members became core members of the New Philosophers in the 1970s. Several members of the group were involved with the founding of the French daily Libération which evolved into a centre left mainstream mass circulation daily newspaper.[2] The group was also known as "Mao-Spontex", or Maoist-spontaneists. The connection to Spontex, a cleaning sponge brand, was intended as a pejorative to disparage the GP's anti-authoritarian approach to socialist revolution.[3]
