ABSTRACT
The concept of scientific socialism, tarnished as this was by its association with dialectical materialism, had by the 1960s become thoroughly discredited. It might even have died a natural death but for the artificial life-support systems extended by both sides (for different reasons) during the Cold War – by adversaries because it seemed to offer an easy target, and by party stalwarts of an obdurate persuasion in the eyes and careers of whom the doctrine had, after all, stood the test of time. This latter group prominently included the staunchly orthodox leadership of the French Communist Party (PCF).
