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About Henri Astier

Henri Astier is a French journalist who works for the BBC.

Articles by Henri Astier

Sunday 25th March

Jurassic Left: the strange death of France's "deuxième gauche"

Henri Astier, 25 March 2007
The once influential “second left” in France has been eclipsed in the last generation by an older left still wedded to statist solutions. Henri Astier dissects this French exception, and what it means for the presidential election and beyond.

When Ségolène Royal unveiled her "presidential pact" in February 2007, most analysts faulted the French socialist candidate in the April-May election for failing to explain how she would pay for all her promises.

Wednesday 8th November

France's banlieues: year of the locust

Henri Astier, 8 November 2006
A year after their social explosion, Henri Astier returns to France's impoverished suburbs to ask whether anything has changed.
Wednesday 3rd May

Jean-François Revel: liberty's champion

Henri Astier, 3 May 2006
France's foremost political thinker was also her most misunderstood, says Henri Astier.
Wednesday 12th April

In praise of French direct democracy

Henri Astier, 12 April 2006
The success of the mass protests against the government’s employment law illuminates the condition of French democracy itself, says Henri Astier.
Thursday 23rd March

France's revolt against change

Henri Astier, 23 March 2006
The travails of an economic model that excludes millions of its citizens from employment underlie the latest wave of mass protests in France, says Henri Astier.
Tuesday 22nd November

"We want to be French!"

Henri Astier, 22 November 2005
The French youth riots were motivated not by ethnicity or religion, but by a hunger for inclusion in the national community as equal citizens, reports Henri Astier from the Paris, Lille, and Lyon banlieues.
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