Mao-spontex was aMaoist tendency of theFrench New Left which upheld spontaneous action as arevolutionary strategy. Drawing fromMao Zedong's concept of themass line, Mao-spontex developed alibertarian approach to Mao's political thought following the suppression of theMay 68 protests. Mao-spontex activists rejectedhierarchy,dogmatism and thepolitical party form, which they associated with orthodoxMarxism-Leninism. Mao-spontex was mainly represented by two political organisations: theProletarian Left (GP) andVive la Révolution (VLR). The movement effectively dissolved following themurder of Pierre Overney, a Mao-spontex activist of the GP, in 1972.

InWhat Is to Be Done?,Vladimir Lenin argued that, although the material conditions of the working class made them naturally more receptive to socialism, they would not spontaneously become socialists due to these conditions, and thus had to be politicised through their introduction to revolutionary theory.^[1] On the contrary, inAnarchism or Socialism?,Joseph Stalin argued that the development ofclass consciousness was necessarily determined by workers' material conditions, in a process described as "social spontaneism".^[2]Mao Zedong later developed on this social spontaneism, replacing Stalin's owneconomic determinism with a theory that placed the production of knowledge in the political sphere.^[3] Mao argued that, as revolutionary agents were liable to confuse their own advancement with that of thecommon good, any revolutionary vanguard would have to take its orders from and hold itself accountable to the masses. This theory of themass line was particularly appealing to French revolutionaries, who had built on a decades-long history ofanarcho-syndicalism, which advocated forworkers' self-management.^[4] Maoism provided French radicals with a means to break from thebureaucracy of traditional socialist parties and the guilt associated withFrench colonialism. It also offered a new revolutionary tradition, drawing from theFrench Revolution and theParis Commune, at a time when many socialists felt stifled by "real socialism".^[5]

During the period ofDe-Stalinization, theFrench Communist Party (PCF) experienced a split, withMarxist-Leninists forming theMarxist-Leninist Communist Party of France [fr] (PCMLF) and youngMaoists breaking away from theUnion of Communist Students (UEC) to establish theMarxist-Leninist Union of Communist Youth (UJCML).^[6] Mao's theory of the mass line influenced the UJCML to reject thepolitical party structure of the PCMLF, believing it was inappropriate for the stage of the political struggle that they were in.^[7] While both groups experienced internal splits over this organisational issue, the events ofMay 68 broke out.^[8] The UJCML initially called on students to dismantle the barricades, as workers were not yet participating in the struggle, but after French trade unions joined the movement by carrying outstrike actions andfactory occupations, the UJCML also began participating. This caused the UJCML to collapse, with some advocating for a return to the political party structure, while others were drawn towards an anti-hierarchical Maoism. The latter upheld a fluid approach to organisation, rejected theoreticalorthodoxy and advocated for a direct confrontation with capitalism. They even managed to appropriate the label of Maoism, while derisively referring to the hierarchical parties as "Marxist-Leninist".^[9] Leading figures of anti-hierarchical Maoism includedLouis Althusser,Michel Foucault,Henri Lefebvre and, most notably,Jean-Paul Sartre.^[10]

During the events of May 68, two of the most influential New Left groups were theSituationist International (SI) and theMovement of 22 March (22M), which both upheldorganisational spontaneity and advanced a critique ofeveryday life undercapitalism.^[11] 22M was itself a coalition ofMaoists,Trotskyism andanarchists, although the latter held the most influence through the group's leaderDaniel Cohn-Bendit.^[12] Their ideology of "spontaneism" quickly gained an influence in the French New Left, eventually being taken up by Maoists who founded the Mao-Spontex tendency.^[13] "Spontex" was short for "spontaneist"^[14] and was derived fromSpontex [fr], a Frenchcleaning sponge brand.^[15] This was in reference to the tendency's disposition to "absorb" ideas from different radical sources.^[16] It was originally conceived by other Marxists an insult towards members of the tendency, a way to mock them for their adoption ofanti-authoritarianism, asorthodox Marxism traditionally criticised spontaneism for its anarchistic tendencies.^[17]

Mao-Spontex was alibertarian movement.^[18] Advocates of spontaneity rejected the political party form advocated byLeninists andTrotskyists.^[19] Young Maoists of the Mao-Spontex tendency rejectedhierarchy,classism andelitism. In attempting to follow the mass line, they participated inclass conflict,political demonstrations andself-criticism.^[5] The French Mao-spontex movement coincided with the development of the Maoist "splittist" tendency in theUnited Kingdom, and theDada Maoism movement inItaly.^[20] Spontaneism was also taken up by other anti-authoritarian Maoists inWest Germany, where they were known asSpontis.^[21] Members of the Mao-spontex current often clashed with the French police, as well as with members of the PCF and its affiliate trade union theGeneral Confederation of Labour (CGT).^[22]

In September 1968, a Mao-Spontex current broke away from the UJCML and established theProletarian Left (French:Gauche prolétarienne; GP), a party which advocated for anti-hierarchical Maoism through its newspaperLa Cause du Peuple.^[23] Initially a small group, in February 1969, the GP received an influx of new activists from the defunct 22M, as well as people that had not taken a side on the dispute between Mao-Spontex and the Marxist-Leninists.^[12]Jacques Kébadian [fr] andJoani Hocquenghem led a cell of theRevolutionary Communist Youth [fr] (JCR) which was expelled from the organisation for its Mao-Spontex tendencies.^[24] They later joined the GP.^[25]

LGBTQ rights activistGuy Hocquenghem also split from the JCR and aligned himself with the Mao-Spontex groupVive la Révolution (VLR).^[26] Activists of this group established the newspaperTout ! [fr], conceived as a publication for the masses. It struck a balance between the Marxist and libertarian movements, publicised countercultural issues, and differentiated itself from the red and black publication styles of traditional Marxist newspapers by making frequent use of colours and illustrations.^[27] Through its Mao-spontex political philosophy, VLR was more open to being influenced by new and different ideological currents. It provided uncritical support to theBlack Panther Party, translating many of their pamphlets into French and placing them at the centre of the international anti-capitalist movement.^[28]

Although Mao-Spontex helped to reinvigorate sections of French intellectualism, it also contributed to the further fragmentation of the French left.^[29] As a tendency, Mao-spontex began to decline during the early 1970s, having largely been unable to develop an influence over the industrial working-class. GP was banned by the French government in 1970, and VLR dissolved in 1971.^[30] According to some members of French New Left, the movement was brought to an end in 1972, when the labour movement failed to respond to themurder of Pierre Overney, a Mao-spontex activist of the GP, by a Renault security guard.^[31]

• Maoism in France in the 1970s
• "Investigation into the Maoists in France".Marxists Internet Archive.