Renardism (french: Renardisme) refers to a political ideology in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

based on the thinking of the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

leader

André Renard André Renard (25 May 191120 July 1962) was a Belgian trade union leader who, in the aftermath of World War II, became an influential figure within the Walloon Movement. Born into a working-class family, Renard was as a metalworker in the Li� ...

(1911–62) which is generally considered to have emerged as a concept only in the years after his death. Although its exact nature has been much discussed, Renardism combined elements of

syndicalism Syndicalism is a Revolutionary politics, revolutionary current within the Left-wing politics, left-wing of the Labour movement, labor movement that seeks to unionize workers Industrial unionism, according to industry and advance their demands t ...

and regionalist politics which ultimately sought the transformation of the country into a

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

André Renard and Renardism

Renard had been an active

trades unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After 1945, he became involved with the Belgian socialist

trades union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

, the

General Federation of Belgian Labour The General Labour Federation of Belgium (french: Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique, or FGTB; nl, Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, ABVV) is a socialist national trade union federation in Belgium. It was founded in 1945. It is affiliat ...

(FGTB) but refused to adapt his populist rhetoric to fit within the mainstream

Belgian Socialist Party nl, Belgische Socialistische Partij , logo = Logo of the Belgian Socialist Party.png , caption = The fist and rose emblem used by the party from 1973. , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Achille Van Acker (first) André Cools (last ...

(PSB). He strongly opposed the return of Leopold III during the Royal Question (1950) and supported the Belgian general strike of 1960–61. When the strike collapsed, he participated in the formation of the (MPW) party. He died in 1962. Many of the positions of the MPW were adopted by the PSB at the Verviers Congress in 1967. Renard's political ideas attracted an following within the FGTB and the Walloon Movement and outlived his own death. A staunch populist, inspired by

Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

and

anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...

, Renard aimed to use industrial action to achieve structural reform which would provide greater autonomy to

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...

and improve the situation of the working class. He strongly advocated

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single po ...

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book, last1=Witte, first1=Els, last2=Craeybeckx, first2=Jan, last3=Meynen, first3=Alain, title=Political History of Belgium from 1830 Onwards, date=2009, publisher=ASP, location=Brussels, isbn=978-90-5487-517-8, edition=New Walloon movement Socialism in Belgium Regionalism (politics) Politics of Wallonia History of Wallonia Syndicalism Political history of Belgium Eponymous political ideologies

André Renard and Renardism

See also

References

Bibliography