Daniel Bensaïd | |
|---|---|
 Bensaïd at a conference inBarcelona in April 2008 | |
| Born | Daniel Ben Saïd (1946-03-25)25 March 1946 Toulouse, France |
| Died | 12 January 2010(2010-01-12) (aged 63) Paris, France |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud University of Paris X |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Trotskyism |
| Institutions | University of Paris-VIII |
| Main interests | Political theory |
Daniel Bensaïd (bornDaniel Ben Saïd; 25 March 1946 – 12 January 2010[1]) was aphilosopher and a leader of theTrotskyist movement in France. He became a leading figure in the student revolt of 1968, while studying at theUniversity of Paris X-Nanterre.
Bensaïd was born inToulouse, France, to a father who was aSephardic Jew fromAlgeria, and who had moved fromOran, where he met Bensaïd's mother, toVichy Toulouse.[2] In response to the8 February 1962 Charonne massacre of Algerians inParis, Bensaïd joined theUnion of Communist Students. Irritated by the party orthodoxy he swiftly became part of a left opposition within the union, and was among the dissidents expelled from the party in 1966.[2]
In 1966, Bensaïd began studying at theÉcole normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud, where he helped found theJeunesse Communiste Révolutionnaire, which became theLigue Communiste Révolutionnaire (LCR).[2] WithDaniel Cohn-Bendit he helped to found theMouvement du 22 Mars (Movement of 22 March), which was involved in the protests ofMay 1968 in France.[2]
Bensaïd became a leading theorist of the LCR and theUnited Secretariat of the Fourth International, and a professor of philosophy at theUniversity of Paris-VIII. He was also a Fellow at theInternational Institute for Research and Education. Upon his death,Tariq Ali described him as "France's leading Marxist public intellectual, much in demand on talkshows and writing essays and reviews inLe Monde andLibération."[2] Bensaïd was known for his studies ofWalter Benjamin andKarl Marx, and a recent analysis of Frenchpostmodernism.
He died ofcancer on 12 January 2010 at the age of 63, arising from the side effects of drugs used to treatAIDS, which he had had for the previous 16 years.[2]
Bensaïd and the current of Trotskyism represented by the Unified Secretariat of the Fourth International have come under attack from more orthodox Trotskyists for the strategy they have advanced of entering the "new social movements"; in particular, for seeing reform and revolution as afalse dichotomy, and proposing the formation of "broad parties," rather than forming parties of the traditional Leninist type. In one such critique, Luke Cooper criticised Bensaïd for arguing that—in certain specific circumstances—it maybe permissible to enter a capitalist government, and seek to use the existing state as an instrument of revolutionary transformation.[3] Bensaïd also debated revolutionary strategy with other Fourth International members, and the BritishSocialist Workers Party's International SecretaryAlex Callinicos.[4]
