Union of Communist Students
Encyclopedia
The Union of Communist Students is a French
student political
organization, part of the Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France
(MJCF, Movement of Young Communists of France). It was originally founded in 1939 but dissolved after World War II
. The UEC was re-created in 1956, along with the MJCF. It is independent from the French Communist Party
(PCF) although it remains close to it. It maintains exchange contacts with the PCF, in particular on student issues. The UEC is organized in sectors, by university, and is led by a national collective elected during the congress of the MJCF. Its current national secretary is Marion Guenot.
of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), in parallel with the creation of the Communist Youth and of the PCF (named at first SFIC - French Section of the Communist International).
During the July 12, 1920 Congress of the Etudiants socialistes révolutionnaires group (Revolutionary Socialist Students), mostly composed of anarchists
(and not exclusively students), the Revolutionary Socialist Students decided to associate them with the Third International — four months before the creation of the Communist Youth and five months before the creation of the SFIC (future PCF). A lot of the Revolutionary Socialist Students were themselves former members of the mostly anarchist association Étudiants socialistes révolutionnaires internationalistes (Internationalist Revolutionary Socialist Students). After this decision, the Revolutionary Socialist Students took the name of Étudiants collectivistes révolutionnaires (Revolutionary Collectivist Students), among which were Nguyễn Sinh Cung, later known under the name of Hô Chi Minh
.
After the creation of the Communist Youth (JC) and then of the Communist Youth International, the CYI absorbed the Internationale des Etudiants Socialistes and called forth to the communist students to join it. However, students' were not the priority of the JC — in 1920, France counted only 50,000 students, whom a vast majority came from the bourgeoisie
. University circles were adamantly opposed to Communists, and mostly to the right — a lot of them were members of the monarchist Action française
(AF). Until the 1930s, Communist presence in estudiantine sectors remained small, and the function of responsible of students quickly disappeared in the JC.
The majority of communist students gathered in the 1920s in the Union fédérale des étudiants (UFE, Federal Union of Students). Danielle
and Laurent Casanova
were both leaders in this union. The UFE, which boasted several thousand members, counted however many non-Communist members. Furthermore, it was confronted with problems regarding its political orientation, because of its mixed nature between a political association and a students' union. In 1935, after the February 6, 1934 riots organized by far-right leagues, the Etudiants socialistes (Socialist Students) merged with it. Despite this association, or the Clarté universitaire group of Georges Cogniot, related to Paul Vaillant-Couturier
and Henri Barbusse
's Clarté movement, there was no stable Communist youth organisation before 1938.
In December 1934, the Students' World Congress Against War and Fascism was organized in Brussels
, a year after the World Youth Congress in Paris. Furthermore, the JC set up again, in 1935, a function of students' responsible, given to Aimé Albert. The office was renamed "Secretary for Students" at the JC Congress in Marseille
of 1936. In 1937, during the Popular Front
, the different communist students' groups organized themselves through the creation of a "national secretary of communist students of France," and published their first newspaper, Relève.
, Grenoble
and Strasbourg
(where the local section was headed by Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont
). Their main struggle was then anti-fascism
, carried out in a difficult context because of the Munich Agreement
. The UEC then gathered mainly university students, but also high school students. At the beginning of the war
, the UEC became the UELC (Union des étudiants et lycéens communistes, Union of Communist Students and Lycéens - lycéens being high school students). The Congrès des lycéens anti-fascistes (Congress of Antifascist Lycéens) merged into it.
Dissolved after the Liberation, the UEC was re-created during the Fourth Republic, in 1956. Ten years later, "leftist" elements were excluded: those included Trotskyists who rejected Stalinism
, such as Alain Krivine
, future leader of the Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist League
, and Maoists
. The first created the Jeunesse communiste révolutionnaire (JCR, Revolutionary Communist Youth) and the second the Union des jeunesses communistes marxistes-léninistes (UJC (ml); Union of Marxist-Leninist Communist Youth).
The UEC is present in many universities, including the Sorbonne, Jussieu University, Tolbiac University, University of Paris III (Censier), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, University of Paris VIII, University of Aix-Marseille
, University of Bordeaux
, University of Caen, University of Grenoble
, University of Lyon
, University of Orléans
, University of Dijon, etc.
The UEC contributes to political debate, carries out investigations and information tasks. It took part to the 2006 protests against the CPE labour contract
. It has opposed itself to the Bologna process
reforming universities at the European scale, implemented in France by the LMD reforms, and participated to the demonstrations in 2003 against these reforms. In June 2006, the UEC participated to the collective Unis contre l'immigration jetable (United Against Throw-Away Immigration) and to the creation of the Réseau université sans frontière (Network of Universities Without Borders), opposed to anti-immigration policies then enacted by Dominique de Villepin
's government (with Nicolas Sarkozy
as Minister of Interior).
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
student political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
organization, part of the Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France
Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France
The Mouvement Jeunes communistes de France , commonly called the "JC" , is a political youth organisation, close to the French communist party....
(MJCF, Movement of Young Communists of France). It was originally founded in 1939 but dissolved after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The UEC was re-created in 1956, along with the MJCF. It is independent from the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
(PCF) although it remains close to it. It maintains exchange contacts with the PCF, in particular on student issues. The UEC is organized in sectors, by university, and is led by a national collective elected during the congress of the MJCF. Its current national secretary is Marion Guenot.
Roots
Although founded in 1939, the UEC is the heir of numerous students' associations, some of them created at the end of the 19th century at the beginning of the Third Republic. However, the Communist student movement was created following the 1920 Tours CongressTours Congress
The Tours Congress was the 18th National Congress of the French Section of the Workers' International, or SFIO, which took place in Tours on 25—30 December 1920...
of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), in parallel with the creation of the Communist Youth and of the PCF (named at first SFIC - French Section of the Communist International).
During the July 12, 1920 Congress of the Etudiants socialistes révolutionnaires group (Revolutionary Socialist Students), mostly composed of anarchists
Anarchism in France
Thinker Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who grew up during the Restoration was the first self-described anarchist. French anarchists fought in the Spanish Civil War as volunteers in the International Brigades. French anarchism reached its height in the late 19th century...
(and not exclusively students), the Revolutionary Socialist Students decided to associate them with the Third International — four months before the creation of the Communist Youth and five months before the creation of the SFIC (future PCF). A lot of the Revolutionary Socialist Students were themselves former members of the mostly anarchist association Étudiants socialistes révolutionnaires internationalistes (Internationalist Revolutionary Socialist Students). After this decision, the Revolutionary Socialist Students took the name of Étudiants collectivistes révolutionnaires (Revolutionary Collectivist Students), among which were Nguyễn Sinh Cung, later known under the name of Hô Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
.
After the creation of the Communist Youth (JC) and then of the Communist Youth International, the CYI absorbed the Internationale des Etudiants Socialistes and called forth to the communist students to join it. However, students' were not the priority of the JC — in 1920, France counted only 50,000 students, whom a vast majority came from the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
. University circles were adamantly opposed to Communists, and mostly to the right — a lot of them were members of the monarchist Action française
Action Française
The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...
(AF). Until the 1930s, Communist presence in estudiantine sectors remained small, and the function of responsible of students quickly disappeared in the JC.
The majority of communist students gathered in the 1920s in the Union fédérale des étudiants (UFE, Federal Union of Students). Danielle
Danielle Casanova
Danielle Casanova was a French militant communist and member of the French resistance. She was responsible for the French Communist Youth before founding the Union des jeunes filles de France...
and Laurent Casanova
Laurent Casanova
Laurent Casanova was a French politician. Born 9 October 1906 at Souk Ahras, Algeria, he died 20 March 1972 in Paris.-Political career:Of Corsican origins, Casanova studied law at university in Paris. He became secretary of the Communist cell there, and he entered the underground apparatus of the...
were both leaders in this union. The UFE, which boasted several thousand members, counted however many non-Communist members. Furthermore, it was confronted with problems regarding its political orientation, because of its mixed nature between a political association and a students' union. In 1935, after the February 6, 1934 riots organized by far-right leagues, the Etudiants socialistes (Socialist Students) merged with it. Despite this association, or the Clarté universitaire group of Georges Cogniot, related to Paul Vaillant-Couturier
Paul Vaillant-Couturier
Paul Vaillant-Couturier was a French author, journalist and politician. He studied history and law but very early, in 1912, he began writing...
and Henri Barbusse
Henri Barbusse
Henri Barbusse was a French novelist and a member of the French Communist Party.-Life:...
's Clarté movement, there was no stable Communist youth organisation before 1938.
In December 1934, the Students' World Congress Against War and Fascism was organized in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, a year after the World Youth Congress in Paris. Furthermore, the JC set up again, in 1935, a function of students' responsible, given to Aimé Albert. The office was renamed "Secretary for Students" at the JC Congress in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
of 1936. In 1937, during the Popular Front
Popular Front (France)
The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period...
, the different communist students' groups organized themselves through the creation of a "national secretary of communist students of France," and published their first newspaper, Relève.
Foundation and history
On April 1 and 2, 1939, the Union of Communist Students held its first, constitutive, national congress. It then boasted 1,000 members and groups in all of France, in particular in Paris, ToulouseToulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
and Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
(where the local section was headed by Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont
Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont
Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont was a militant communist who took part in the French Resistance during the Second World War, and a French politician...
). Their main struggle was then anti-fascism
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
, carried out in a difficult context because of the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
. The UEC then gathered mainly university students, but also high school students. At the beginning of the war
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, the UEC became the UELC (Union des étudiants et lycéens communistes, Union of Communist Students and Lycéens - lycéens being high school students). The Congrès des lycéens anti-fascistes (Congress of Antifascist Lycéens) merged into it.
Dissolved after the Liberation, the UEC was re-created during the Fourth Republic, in 1956. Ten years later, "leftist" elements were excluded: those included Trotskyists who rejected Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
, such as Alain Krivine
Alain Krivine
Alain Krivine is a leader of the Trotskyist movement in France. He is a member of the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire , which is the French section of the reunified Fourth International. He was a member of the LCR's political bureau until March 2006, when he resigned from that committee...
, future leader of the Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist League
Revolutionary Communist League (France)
See Revolutionary Communist League for the other Ligue communiste révolutionnaire.The Revolutionary Communist League was a French democratic revolutionary socialist political party. It was the French section of the Fourth International...
, and Maoists
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...
. The first created the Jeunesse communiste révolutionnaire (JCR, Revolutionary Communist Youth) and the second the Union des jeunesses communistes marxistes-léninistes (UJC (ml); Union of Marxist-Leninist Communist Youth).
Organisation
Today, the UEC is organized in local sections, mostly corresponding to universities or campus. These sections are sometimes regrouped in city-wide sections or groups of cities. It is headed by a national collective of 30 members, elected during each congress of the MJCF. The national collective then elects a national coordination, charged of the implementation of the collective's decision and of the organisation of debates, as well as a national secretary.The UEC is present in many universities, including the Sorbonne, Jussieu University, Tolbiac University, University of Paris III (Censier), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, University of Paris VIII, University of Aix-Marseille
University of Aix-Marseille
Aix-Marseille University is a public university in France created by the merger of the University of Provence, the University of the Mediterranean and the Paul Cézanne University...
, University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...
, University of Caen, University of Grenoble
University of Grenoble
University of Grenoble or Grenoble University was a university in Grenoble, France until 1970, when it was split into several different institutions:...
, University of Lyon
University of Lyon
The University of Lyon , located in Lyon and Saint Etienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 16 institutions of higher education...
, University of Orléans
University of Orléans
-History:In 1230, when for a time the doctors of the University of Paris were scattered, a number of the teachers and disciples took refuge in Orléans; when pope Boniface VIII, in 1298, promulgated the sixth book of the Decretals, he appointed the doctors of Bologna and the doctors of Orléans to...
, University of Dijon, etc.
Activity
Along with ATTAC Campus, the UEC is the only student political association present at the national scale (notwithstanding students' union such as the UNEF). Since it is not a students' union, it does not present itself at students' elections in universities. However, the UEC did present an electoral list in December 2005 for the elections in the University of Aix-Marseille I, which obtained 15% of the votes; the vice-president of the students' representatives in the universities is therefore affiliated to the UEC.The UEC contributes to political debate, carries out investigations and information tasks. It took part to the 2006 protests against the CPE labour contract
2006 labour protests in France
The 2006 youth protests in France occurred throughout France during February, March, and April 2006 as a result of opposition to a measure set to deregulate labour...
. It has opposed itself to the Bologna process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
reforming universities at the European scale, implemented in France by the LMD reforms, and participated to the demonstrations in 2003 against these reforms. In June 2006, the UEC participated to the collective Unis contre l'immigration jetable (United Against Throw-Away Immigration) and to the creation of the Réseau université sans frontière (Network of Universities Without Borders), opposed to anti-immigration policies then enacted by Dominique de Villepin
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....
's government (with Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
as Minister of Interior).
List of national secretaries
| List of the UEC national secretaries : | |
|---|---|
| 1939 | Pierre Hervé |
| 1939-1941 | Francis Cohen, François Lescure, Suzanne Djian (collective clandestine direction ) |
| 1944-1945 | Guy Besse Guy Besse Guy Besse was a French philosopher and politician, a member of the executive of the French Communist Party .- Biography :A member of the Responsable du Front National while a student in Lyon under the pseudonym of César, he was part of the Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France during the... |
| 1956-1957 | Serge Magnien |
| 1957-1958 | Claude Deydié |
| 1958-1959 | Claude Kastler |
| 1959-1961 | Philippe Robrieux |
| 1961-1962 | Jean Piel |
| 1962-1964 | Alain Forner |
| 1964-1965 | Pierre Kahn |
| 1965-1967 | Guy Hermier |
| 1967-1969 | Jean-Michel Catala |
| 1969-1971 | Gérard Molina |
| 1971-1973 | Pierre Zarka |
| 1973-1976 | Jean-Charles Eleb |
| 1976-1979 | Francis Combes |
| 1979-1984 | Patrice Dauvin |
| 1984-1986 | Pierre Laurent |
| 1986-1987 | Sabino Patruno |
| 1987-1991 | Sylvie Vassalo |
| 1991-1994 | Alain Raimbault |
| 1994-1997 | Yasmine Boudjenah |
| 1997-1998 | Nadège Magnon |
| 1998-2000 | Pierre Garzon |
| 2000-2002 | Olivier Valentin |
| 2002-2004 | Vincent Bordas |
| 2004-2006 | Manuel Blasco |
| 2006-2009 | Igor Zamichiei |
| 2009-2010 | François Dellaleau |
| 2010- | Marion Guenot |
Some former members
- Pierre GoldmanPierre GoldmanPierre Goldman, was a French left-wing intellectual who was convicted of several robberies and mysteriously assassinated. It has been suspected that the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación death squad was involved in his murder...
(assassinated in 1979) - Maurice Kriegel-ValrimontMaurice Kriegel-ValrimontMaurice Kriegel-Valrimont was a militant communist who took part in the French Resistance during the Second World War, and a French politician...
(ResistantFrench ResistanceThe French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
during Vichy FranceVichy FranceVichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, died in 2006) - Alain KrivineAlain KrivineAlain Krivine is a leader of the Trotskyist movement in France. He is a member of the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire , which is the French section of the reunified Fourth International. He was a member of the LCR's political bureau until March 2006, when he resigned from that committee...
(now leader of the Revolutionary Communist LeagueRevolutionary Communist League (France)See Revolutionary Communist League for the other Ligue communiste révolutionnaire.The Revolutionary Communist League was a French democratic revolutionary socialist political party. It was the French section of the Fourth International...
, LCR) - Dominique Strauss-KahnDominique Strauss-KahnDominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
(president of the International Monetary FundInternational Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
as of 2007)