Introduction: Let a thousand flowers bloom? marc Jacquemain

Abstract

The societies of Western Europe—“Old Europe”, as George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, called it—have lived for three full decades through what one might call a “crisis of social conflict”. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the level of conflict has become lower—even if the hypothesis seems true for a fraction of this period—but rather that the conflict has become less structured and so less easy to grasp. We can say that “today’s world resembles the one in which classical Marxism emerged. In other respects, it is significantly different—above all, no doubt, in the absence of a clearly identified ‘subject of emancipation’” (Keucheyan, Left Hemisphere: Mapping Contemporary Theory. London: Verso, 2014). This empirical work of identifying “grips” is more indispensable than ever. It is the necessary condition for rearming an effective critique, that is, a critique that dares to be radical but does not mistake its dreams for realities. The texts gathered in this volume suggest new grips by showing how several activist organisations (mainly) in France share a common practical utopian imaginary, trying to change the world here and now.