What is left for the left after the reelection of Emmanuel Macron in France? According to Frédéric Lordon, the French election of 2022 will not have been totally in vain if it at least allows us to disengage ourselves from electoral belief. In relation to its purpose, which is to ‘bring politics to life’, election is a fraud.
While economic, health, and political crises abound, capitalists are obsessed with "raising awareness." But what use is awareness when action is needed? In this short piece, Frédéric Lordon offers an incisive critique of this 'radicalism that has no impact'.
On 31 January, at the Bourse du travail in Paris, Frédéric Lordon debated with Thomas Piketty on his book Capital and Ideology, at the invitation of Les Amis de L’Humanité. The following text is Frédéric Lordon's opening speech, with minimal revisions. Translated by David Fernbach