I attended the annual meeting of Le Militant in Paris on Saturday 6th June. It was a great occasion, about 30 people were present, almost half women, and genuinely representative of the ethnic composition of the French proletariat. There were several children under the age of 10 making it a real family event.

The meeting heard reports from different groups of its members involved in community work in defence of the rights of workers. For example they have recently won a struggle for the re-housing of an elderly couple who have been evicted from their home despite an impeccable record of regular rent payment. They have been involved in campaigns for rights for immigrants "without papers". One comrade pointed out how even the most basic struggles can bring workers into a situation where they are up against the law: factory occupations to defend jobs, the fight against evictions, and boss napping. I spoke to one comrade, with a big influence in her neighbourhood, who has been working with unemployed and disaffected youngsters to help find them jobs and also to channel their energy into socially constructive activities rather than aimless crime and drugs.

There was good discussion on the current crisis in the world economy and its political implications. The comrades of Militant were keen to point out that France is not an exceptional country from the point of view of militancy. They referred to the tradition of the British miners and the recent explosion of protests in Iceland over the financial crisis.

The meeting took a unanimous decision to accept the ideas of the document "Preparing for Revolution" and to affiliate to Workers International Network. They also agreed to prepare for a meeting in Paris in the autumn (probably Oct 24th & 25th) where comrades from this list will be invited to participate in continuing the thinking process that has lead to the formulation of these ideas.

I hope the French comrades can write a more detailed report to give a full flavour of the discussion at their annual meeting. I felt privileged to be there and to learn from the  work of these comrades. They are a highly respected group with many years of experience of both struggle and the study of Marxist theory. Their name and logo is inspired by the best traditions of the British Militant, the most influential revolutionary Marxist group in Europe in the 70s and 80s, who led the struggle of Liverpool City Council and the campaign against the poll tax and played a big part in the miners strike. There is a saying "when a flag falls to the ground, it belongs to whoever picks it up".

Ed Bober