Editing Maoism (section)

=== France ===
{{See also|Communism in France}}
In 1964, a Maoist circle formed at [[École normale supérieure (Paris)|École Normale]] among students who studied with [[Louis Althusser]].<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|pages=226–227}} The group initially sought to develop leadership over the [[French Communist Party]]'s (PCF) student organization, but in December 1966 their own organization, the Union of Marxist-Leninist Communist Youth.<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|page=227}}

In 1966, PCF members dissatisfied with the party's direction formed their own movement and in 1967 they founded the Maoist-oriented French Marxist–Leninist Communist Party.<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|page=226}}

French Maoism grew after the Sino-Soviet split and particularly from 1966 to 1976.<ref name=":23222">{{Cite book |last=Bourg |first=Julian |title=Mao's Little Red Book: A Global History |date=2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-05722-7 |editor-last=Cook |editor-first=Alexander C. |location=Cambridge |pages= |chapter=Principally Contradiction: The Flourishing of French Maoism}}</ref>{{Rp|page=225}} After [[May 68]], the cultural influence of French Maoists increased.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK}}</ref>{{Rp|page=122}} Maoists became the first group of French intellectuals to emphasize [[LGBT history in France|gay and lesbian rights]] in their publications and contributed to the nascent [[Feminism in France|feminist movement in France]].<ref name=":04" />{{Rp|page=122}}

The École Normale Maoists merged with leaders of May 68 to form Proletarian Left.<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|page=227}} For six years, it was the most visible Maoist organization in France.<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|page=227}} Proletarian Left worked in cities, working class suburbs, rural areas, and immigrant communities.<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|page=227}} Its areas of focus included abortion rights, international leftism, and organizing in universities and among factory workers.<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|page=227}} Proletarian Left included developed supporters among intellectuals, such as [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] (who nominally filled the position of editor at a Proletarian Left newspaper after its editor was arrested) and [[Michel Foucault]] (who was influential in Proletarian Left's Prison Information Group, which investigated the conditions of prisoners, including political prisoners).<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|pages=227–228}} Proletarian Left was radically anti-hierarchical, and ultimately failed to maintain its organization, dissolving in 1974.<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|page=228}}

[[Alain Badiou]] is one of the central intellectual figures in the analysis of French Maoism and its legacies.<ref name=":23222" />{{Rp|page=241}}