Why “Liberal” Is an Insult in France

European Straits #15

Dear all,

Emmanuel Macron is moving towards a probable victory in next Sunday’s presidential election. This will most likely happen despite a few setbacks and serious reluctance from voters on all sides.

In particular, left-wing voters are prone to denouncing Emmanuel’s proximity with the business world and depicting him as a “liberal”. The term as we use it is difficult to convey in English: a synonym of “economically conservative” (lowering taxes, slashing public spending, weakening unions…), it’s typically an insult in the French political conversation. We like our state to intervene in the economy :-)

Yet like Emmanuel, I am in favor of rehabilitating the term “liberalism” around the principles enunciated by John Locke several centuries ago: “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.” To French voters, liberalism has come to embody the power of finance and the evils associated with globalization. Yet at its core, it is about affirming individu…