Gilles Dauvé ( pen name Jean Barrot; born 1947) is a French political theorist, school teacher, and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

associated with

left communism Left communism, or the communist left, is a position held by the left wing of communism, which criticises the political ideas and practices espoused by Marxist–Leninists and social democrats. Left communists assert positions which they reg ...

and the contemporary tendency of

communization Communization (or communisation in British English) mainly refers to a contemporary communist theory in which there is a mixing-up of insurrectionist anarchism, the communist ultra-left, post-autonomists, anti-political currents, groups like ...

Biography

In collaboration with other left communists such as François Martin and Karl Nesic, Dauvé has attempted to fuse, critique, and develop different left communist currents, most notably the Italian movement associated with

Amadeo Bordiga Amadeo Bordiga (13 June 1889 – 25 July 1970) was an Italian Marxist theorist, revolutionary socialist, founder of the Communist Party of Italy (PCI), member of the Communist International (Comintern) and later a leading figure of the Interna ...

(and its heretical journal '' Invariance''), German-Dutch

council communism Council communism is a current of communist thought that emerged in the 1920s. Inspired by the November Revolution, council communism was opposed to state socialism and advocated workers' councils and council democracy. Strong in Germany ...

, and the French perspectives associated with ''

Socialisme ou Barbarie Socialisme ou Barbarie () was a French-based radical libertarian socialist group of the post-World War II period whose name comes from a phrase which was misattributed to Friedrich Engels by Rosa Luxemburg in the '' Junius Pamphlet'', but which pr ...

'' and the Situationist International. He has focused on theoretical discussions of economic issues concerning the controversial failure of

Second International The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

(including both

Social Democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

and

Leninist Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishm ...

Communism), the global revolutionary upsurge of the 1960s and its subsequent dissolution, and on developments in global capitalist accumulation and class struggle. Among English-speaking communists and

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

, Dauvé is best known for hi
''Eclipse and Re-emergence of the Communist Movement''
first published by Black & Red Press (

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

) in 1974 an
Critique of the Situationist International
first published in Red Eye,

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. An essay from the first pamphlet, and the whole of the second article, were reprinted by Unpopular Books in London as ''What is Communism'' (1983) and ''What is Situationism'' respectively, in 1987. The first pamphlet was reprinted with a new foreword in 1997 by Antagonism (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

). It includes Dauvé's own translations of two of his articles and one by François Martin, both originally published in (Paris: Champ Libre, 1972). These articles develop Bordiga's critique of

productivism Productivism or growthism is the belief that measurable productivity and growth are the purpose of human organization (e.g., work), and that "more production is necessarily good". Critiques of productivism center primarily on the limits to g ...

in light of Marx's writings on formal and real subsumption and the global uprisings of 1968, and theory of

by drawing on

council communist Council communism is a current of communist thought that emerged in the 1920s. Inspired by the November Revolution, council communism was opposed to state socialism and advocated workers' councils and council democracy. Strong in Germany a ...

and Situationist traditions. Dauvé also participated in the journal ''La Banquise'', which he edited with Karl Nesic and others from 1983 to 1986. This sought to develop the new communist program suggested in ''Le Mouvement Communiste'' through a critical appraisal of post-1968 radical politics, including Situationist and

autonomist Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tend ...

experiments. It also developed the theory of society's real subsumption into capital. The editors describe their aims and influences in (''La Banquise'', 2, 1983). More recently, Dauvé, along with Nesic and others, has published the irregular journal ''Troploin'', featuring articles on the collapse of both

and

Keynesian Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...

regimes of accumulation and the transition to "globalized" neoliberal expansion, the Middle Eastern conflicts,

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...

, and the rhetoric and logic of the

War on Terrorism The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

. Many have been translated into English by Dauvé himself and are archived on th
Troploin
website.

Bibliography

In English

''Eclipse and Re-emergence of the Communist Movement''
Jean Barrot et François Martin (alias de François Cerutti), Black & Red Press (Detroit, Michigan), 1974. * , 1979 *
''and the S.I.?''
(originally published in ''La Banquise'', no. 4, 1986)
''The Perplexities of the Middle Eastern Conflict''

''Grey September''
(on the issues raised after September 11, 2001, with Carasso and Nesic)
''Back to the Situationist International''
* ''From Crisis to Communisation'' (PM Press, 2019)

In French

* Jean Barrot, ,

Champ Libre Champ Libre is a French publisher founded in 1969 by Gérard Lebovici in Paris. The name is taken from a phrase which means "free field" (the way is clear). In 1984, after the assassination of Gérard Lebovici, Champ Libre changed its name and b ...

, 1972. * Jean Barrot, , La Tête de feuilles, 1972. * Jean Barrot, , Payot, 1976. * Jean Barrot, , Paris, U.G.E. 10/18, 1979.( téléchargeable cf. liens externes) * Collectif, , préf.

Gilles Perrault Gilles Perrault (born Jacques Peyroles; 9 March 1931) is a French writer and journalist. Biography Born in Paris, Perrault attended the Collège Stanislas de Paris and then studied at the Institut d'études politiques, eventually becoming a l ...

, ill. Tony Johannot, contributions de Pierre Rabcor, François-Georges Lavacquerie, Serge Quadruppani, Gilles Dauvé, en annexe : '' Les Ennemis de nos ennemis ne sont pas forcément nos amis'' (mai 1992), Paris, Réflex, 1996. * Gilles Dauvé, , HB Éditions, 1997 * Gilles Dauvé, , ADEL, 1999 * Denis Authier, Gilles Dauvé, , Les Nuits rouges, 2003 * Gilles Dauvé, Karl Nesic, , L'Harmattan, 2009

References

External links