Emmanuel Macron and the Two Years that Changed France

This paper presents arguments drawn from the recently published book Emmanuel Macron and the Two Years that Changed France (Manchester University Press, 2019) and applies them to the broader question of France in Europe. The period covered by the book (centred on the transition from the Hollande to Macron presidencies, 2016–18) witnessed the apparent collapse of the old partisan order, the rescue of the political institutions, the rise (and possible taming) of populist and left-wing challenges to the Republic, in the context of a Europe in turmoil as a result of Brexit, the migrant crisis and territorial challenges to the state. The paper considers Macron’s political leadership as a three level game; specifically it focuses on the ideational and instrument use of Europe as an instrument of domestic and European politics. It forms part of a broader discussion of Macron’s leadership as part as an enterprise of disruption. The danger with the hollowing out of traditional left-right politics, in France and to a lesser degree in Europe, is what might be put in its place. What would happen if the central space itself became hollowed out in a reaction to modernizing French society and the failure to re-shape European integration?