The Historical Militancy of Madeleine Rebérioux, 1920 – 2005 Ellen Patricia Crabtree Thesis for the qualification of Doctor of Philosophy School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University June 2016 ii Abstract The thesis critically examines the life of French historian Madeleine Rebérioux (1920 – 2005), through the unstudied connections between academic, political and social engagement. Embedded in militancy through her academic interest in Jean Jaurès and French socialism, Rebérioux’s diverse engagement was remarkable. A leading figure of the anticolonial left in the 1950s and 1960s, Rebérioux was excluded from the French Communist Party in 1969 before later becoming president of the Ligue des droits de l’homme in the 1990s. I have developed the epistemological term ‘historical militancy’ – namely the transaction between being a professional historian and being a social movement activist – in order to assess Rebérioux’s copious archives, bequeathed to the French state after her death. How did Rebérioux’s activism shape her historical interpretation of the past? Likewise, to what extent did Rebérioux’s nuanced view of history frame injustice in her intellectual interventions in French society? Using three case studies, the research scrutinises how Rebérioux used collective action as a vehicle for militancy: from ephemeral anticolonial groups like the Comité Audin, academic activist networks such as the Collectif intersyndical universitaire and action during May ’68 through to well-established national organisation the Ligue des droits de l’homme. This critical analysis of Rebérioux’s archival papers indicates, for the first time, how Rebérioux sat at the heart of a complex web of overlapping campaign- networks. Her activism forms an unbroken thread woven into polemical political moments of the Fourth and Fifth Republics, offering a unique window on historians’ practical engagement outside of their professional academic discipline as well as a new understanding of the culture of left-wing political militancy. iii iv Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the help and encouragement of many individuals and institutions, to whom I am indebted: For the generous funding of my research, Newcastle University School of Modern Languages for their Graduate Teaching Assistantship; the AHRC Northern Bridge for my third-year studentship; and the Society for the Study of French History for the award of the 2015 Ralph Gibson bursary. Along with the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France, the above institutions have also kindly funded research trips to France and offered intellectual fora for the discussion of my research. Professor Máire Cross, for being an inspirational supervisor, mentor and advocate throughout my doctoral studies. Dr Hugh Dauncey for his insightful comments on my work. Dr Julian Wright for raising the possibility of studying Rebérioux as a subject in her own right and his unstinting encouragement of my research. The many friends, family and former colleagues of Madeleine Rebérioux who took the time to offer their memories of this remarkable woman. I would especially like to thank Gilles Candar and Christophe Prochasson for their advice, sharing of expertise and for the kind invitation to present my research to the Société d’études jaurésiennes. I am grateful for the assistance of archivists at the Archives Nationales, Pierrefitte; the Musée de l’histoire vivante, Montreuil (especially Éric Lafon); and the PCF archives, Place Colonel Fabien, Paris. The wider French, History and Modern Languages postgraduate community in the North East and beyond for encouragement and friendship during our studies. Research trips to Paris and London would not have been possible without the generous hospitality of Alex Paulin-Booth, Claudia Oberst, Siobhan Foster and Scott Perkins. Lastly I would like to thank my friends and family for their support throughout my university studies. I would not be writing this without them. Finally, to Christopher, thank you for everything, not least the suggestion of using a table in chapter two. v vi Table of Contents Abstract.............................................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables and Figures ............................................................................................................................. x Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Rebérioux ‘continent’ .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The multiple lives of Madeleine Rebérioux ......................................................................... 3 1.3 Structuring militancy ................................................................................................................. 10 1.4 Running against the grain ........................................................................................................ 12 Chapter 2. Tracing Rebérioux’s Historical Militancy .................................................................. 15 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 15 2.2 An historian as a subject of history ...................................................................................... 16 2.2.1 Historians, generations and autobiographies ......................................................... 16 2.2.2 Paroles d’historiens ............................................................................................................. 20 2.2.3 A new intellectual biography? ....................................................................................... 22 2.3 Historical militancy .................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.1 The problem of definition................................................................................................ 26 2.3.2 Rebérioux’s militancy ....................................................................................................... 28 2.3.3 Engaging as an historian .................................................................................................. 29 2.4 Rebérioux’s archives .................................................................................................................. 36 2.4.1 Navigating Rebérioux’s archives .................................................................................. 37 2.4.2 647AP: Fonds Rebérioux ................................................................................................... 39 2.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 45 Case study 1: Anticolonialism Chapter 3. Anticolonial Engagement during the Algerian War .............................................. 46 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 46 3.1.1 Anticolonial traces in the archives ............................................................................... 48 vii 3.1.2 The Algerian generation .................................................................................................. 49 3.1.3 Forms of Republican protest .......................................................................................... 51 3.2 Grass-roots anticolonialism (1945-1960) ......................................................................... 54 3.2.1 Early PCF engagement ...................................................................................................... 54 3.2.2 Grass-roots militancy in and around Paris ............................................................... 56 3.3 Anticolonialism on a national scale (1960-3) .................................................................. 62 3.3.1 Organising: the Comité Audin ........................................................................................ 62 3.3.2 Petitioning: the Manifeste des 121 ................................................................................ 67 3.3.3 Documenting: Octobre à Paris ....................................................................................... 71 3.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 75 Chapter 4. Second-Wave Anticolonialism: the Appel des Douze ............................................. 78 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 78 4.2 The Appel des Douze ..................................................................................................................