Speaker: Prof. Claude Serfati (Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin)
Discussants: Prof. Alex Callinicos and Dr. Eva Nanopoulos
This book traces the consolidation of the role of the armies in France from the era of classical imperialism to the present, and proposes an in-depth analysis of the intensification of French military interventions abroad since the end of the 2000s. The ‘2008 moment’ – a combination of the major crisis since the end of WWII, geopolitical upheaval (‘Arab spring’ and their repression) and Obama’s move away from America’s post-war interventionist role – opened a ‘window of opportunity’ for France, in particular in its African ‘backyard’ (Libya, Mali, Central African Republic). The long-established tradition of French military interventionism was reinforced by rising pressures from the ‘méso-système de l’armement’ (the military-industrial complex à la française). Along with growing economic imbalances between France and Germany, these pressures reinforce the attempts of French policy-makers to use their military leverage as a ‘competitive advantage’. The increase in military interventions abroad is linked to the installation at home of a permanent state of emergency that threatens democratic liberties and targets foremost children of migrants from North Africa.
Claude Serfati is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ). His main research fields are the transformations of contemporary capitalism (finance capital dominated globalisation, transnational corporations and modern forms of imperialism) and the arms industries, science and technology policies in particular. His recent publications include: Le militaire Une histoire française (Editions Amsterdam, Paris, 2017) and "De la mondialisation de la guerre aux guerres de la mondialisation" in Christos Boukalas, Mark Neocleous, and Claude Serfati (eds.) Critique de la sécurité. Accumulation capitaliste et pacification sociale (Etrotopia, Paris, 2017). Recent articles in English: "Imperialism in context: the case of France" (Historical Materialism, 2015), “The European integration as a structural uneven process” (Research in Political Economy, 2015) and “The transatlantic bloc of states and the political economy of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)” (Work Organisation, Labour & Globalization, 2015).
Alex Callinicos is Professor of European Studies at King's College London. His latest books are Imperialism and Global Political Economy, Bonfire of Illusions, and Deciphering Capital.
Eva Nanopoulos is a Lecturer in Law at Queen Mary, University of London where she convenes and teaches international human rights law. Her research interests span across human rights, international law, EU law and critical legal theory, with a current focus on critical approaches to international and national security, the war on terror and the crisis of the EU.