French Intellectuals and the Communist Party: Roots of Affiliation

Abstract

This chapter examines the condition and situation of the French Communist intellectuals in the wider tradition of political activity in France. Though the French Communist Party (PCF) occupied the same terrain as the republican tradition, it was also deep-rooted in Leninist and syndicalist origins, which ensured that the initial political culture of French Communism differed in a number of ways to the core principles and values of republicanism. Thus, the position of intellectuals in the party differed considerably from the republican paradigm. Bourgeois were welcome in the party but they were kept away from the levers of power in the organization, and the party's leadership remained in the hands of working class political activists.