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| NPA (New Anticapitalist Party) | |
|---|---|
| Name | NPA (New Anticapitalist Party) |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Country | France |
NPA (New Anticapitalist Party) is a French far-left political party founded in 2009 as a self-declared revolutionary socialist formation rooted in Trotskyist traditions. It emerged from a split within existing far-left currents and sought to unite activists from syndicalist, feminist, ecological, anti-racist, and anti-imperialist milieus into a single organization. The party has engaged in electoral contests, street mobilizations, and international networks while remaining a minority actor in French and European politics.
The party traces its origins to dissident tendencies within the Revolutionary Communist League and debates among figures associated with Ligue communiste révolutionnaire, Julien Sorel (novel), Olivier Besancenot, José Bové, and activists from movements linked to Solidaires unitaires démocratiques, Confédération générale du travail (CGT), and Confédération française démocratique du travail. Its founding conference in 2009 drew militants influenced by the legacies of Leon Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Antonio Gramsci, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and contemporaries in parties such as Die Linke, Syriza, Partido Comunista de España, and Socialist Workers Party (UK). Early years featured campaigns against austerity tied to protests over measures by administrations of Nicolas Sarkozy and later François Hollande, as well as solidarity with movements like the Spanish Indignados, the Occupy Wall Street movement, and strikes involving SNCF and RATP workers. Internal debates over strategy, alliances, and candidate selection led to factional tensions mirroring splits in organizations such as Fourth International, New Left, and International Socialist Tendency.
The party espouses a synthesis of revolutionary socialism, Trotskyism, ecosocialism, and anti-capitalism, situating its platform near parties like Parti communiste français and left formations such as La France insoumise while maintaining critical distance from reformist currents like Socialist Party (France). Policy positions emphasize nationalizations inspired by historical measures from Léon Blum, Pierre Mendès France, and National Council of Resistance programs; proposals include worker control reminiscent of models associated with Kronstadt rebellion and Spanish Revolution (1936–1939). The party opposes participation in North Atlantic Treaty Organization military operations, supports anti-imperialist stances toward interventions involving Iraq War, NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, and French operations in Mali. It advocates for social rights linked to welfare frameworks championed historically by figures like Jean Jaurès and contemporary trade union leaders in Force Ouvrière. Environmental policies draw on ecosocialist currents associated with activists in Green Party (France) and theorists influenced by Murray Bookchin and Naomi Klein. The party has articulated positions on immigration referencing legal debates involving European Court of Human Rights and asylum rulings from Council of Europe institutions.
Organizationally, the party models itself on democratic centralism with local sections in municipalities such as Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes, and Bordeaux. Leadership bodies mirror structures found in historic organizations like Communist Party of France and international federations including Fourth International; internal commissions cover themes analogous to committees in United Nations specialized agencies and labor federations like CGT. Membership draws activists from trade unions such as SUD-Rail and Solidaires as well as student groups with histories linked to May 1968 events in France and cultural movements inspired by the works of Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, and theorists such as Antonio Negri. The party publishes periodicals and engages in cultural outreach via bookshops and forums comparable to activist spaces run by Alternative libertaire and Les Éditions du Croquant.
Electoral participation has included campaigns in presidential elections, legislative contests, and European Parliament lists, often running candidates with profiles similar to Olivier Besancenot and coalitions like those experimented by Front de Gauche and Ensemble!. Results have generally been modest compared with the Socialist Party (France) and Les Républicains, though the party has influenced discourse during mass mobilizations involving pension reform protests and anti-austerity demonstrations alongside movements such as Nuit debout and strikes by RATP workers. At municipal levels, members have held seats on municipal councils in towns with activist traditions like Port-de-Bouc and engaged in campaigns referencing precedents set by elected municipalists in Barcelona and Copenhagen. The party has periodically entered united lists with formations like La France insoumise and Ensemble, but often rejected alliances perceived as diluting revolutionary aims, echoing schisms seen in United Left (Spain) and Left Front (France).
Critics from parties such as Parti communiste français, Socialist Party (France), and Les Républicains have accused the party of sectarianism and inability to build broad coalitions, drawing parallels to splits in Trotskyist movements and controversies that affected organizations like Lambertist groups. Media outlets including Le Monde, Libération, and Le Figaro have debated its electoral strategy and internal discipline, while commentators have compared its organizational culture to factions in Workers' Party (Brazil) and disputes within Syriza. Allegations of internal intolerance toward dissent have been raised by former members who cited disputes similar to expulsions in Socialist Workers Party (UK) and resignations after ideological clashes around positions on international conflicts like Syrian Civil War and Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Internationally, the party has cultivated ties with organizations in the Fourth International tradition and solidarity relations with formations such as Socialist Party (Portugal), Die Linke, Left Bloc (Portugal), and Latin American movements aligned with Venezuela's Chavismo and Bolivarian currents. It has expressed support for struggles like those of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, solidarity with Kurdish movements in Rojava, and collaboration with anti-austerity activists from Greece and Spain. The party participates in transnational conferences alongside groups from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and South Africa and engages with international labor networks connected to unions such as International Trade Union Confederation and campaigns promoted by Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières activists.