At the beginning of June this year, Emmanuel Macron called a snap election for the French National Assembly. The move came after the far-right party of Marine Le Pen, the National Rally, topped the poll in France’s European election. The party was widely expected to repeat that performance in the national election and form a government for the first time. But a left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front, thwarted the ambitions of Le Pen and her ally Jordan Bardella.

The New Popular Front was the largest single bloc in the National Assembly and should have been given the opportunity to nominate a prime minister. However, Macron was determined to stop that from happening. After stalling throughout the summer, Macron finally appointed a new prime minister last week. He chose Michel Barnier, a conservative politician whose party came fourth in the election.

Macron appointed Barnier with the approval of Marine Le Pen. As Jacobin’s Europe editor David Broder put it, Barnier may be in office, but Le Pen will hold power. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise, the largest group in the New Popular Front, denounced the appointment of Barnier as a subversion of democracy and the popular will.

Bruno Amable, a professor of political economy at the University of Geneva, joins Long Reads for a conversation about Macron’s role in the wider crisis of French politics. Bruno is the author, with Stefano Palombarini, of an important book that analyzed the aggressive and authoritarian class politics underpinning Macron’s project. It was translated into English as The Last Neoliberal: Macron and the Origins of France's Political Crisis.

Dan spoke with Bruno before the appointment of Michel Barnier as prime minister, when it was already clear that Macron was determined to exclude the left from power.

Find an earlier interview Jacobin conducted with Bruno, about Macron forming a right-wing bloc, here: https://jacobin.com/2022/04/emmanuel-macron-election-neoliberalism-france-right-left

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.

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