In this talk, Alex Paulin-Booth (Université Libre de Bruxelles) discusses notions of time in political activitism through a range of late 19th century French futurist novels, all of which reflect on the utopias (and dystopias) of the French left in this period. The talk is followed by a comment by Emile Chabal (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in January 2019.