ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the discourse, the values, and the social and employment policy goals and instruments of the Jospin Government, exploring the viability of Réalisme de Gauche as a progressive political project. At the level of discourse and values, Réalisme de Gauche is built upon non neoliberal economic foundations. The questioning of the received neo-liberal economic wisdom by the Parti Socialiste (PS) engendered a re-evaluation of the degree of volontarisme (policy or state activism) possible in today’s international economic context. Rejecting accommodation with neoliberal orthodoxy on the assumption that ‘there is no alternative’, there is an insistence upon the existence of room to manoeuvre, a concept central to Réalisme de Gauche.
