I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
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I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.
it's a lot harder to treat other people as truly "other" if you hang out with them, go to school with them, have drinks at a cafe or pub with them. that process of dehumanizing and designating as "other" is a key part of fascism/racism/hate.
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"The closure of 'tabacs' (small local café-bars in France) contributes to the progression of far-right voting... regardless of immigration, unemployment or other economic indicators...
"Symmetrically, the opening of tabacs is associated with a decline in far-right voting, suggesting that these dynamics are not irreversible.
"No other commercial closure produces a comparable effect. The specificity of tabacs lies in their function as a place of socialisation... The effects are three times stronger in rural communities, where these establishments often constitute the last place of sociability...
"When places of sociability disappear, politics becomes a face-off between atomised individuals and national media narratives."
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@alberto_cottica @GeofCox @teinturs A study released a few months ago goes in the same direction (in french) https://www.liberation.fr/idees-et-debats/le-bar-pmu-rempart-meconnu-contre-le-vote-dextreme-droite-20260130_2NH7T5FA4VCTPHJHYRAP3643EE/
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"The closure of 'tabacs' (small local café-bars in France) contributes to the progression of far-right voting... regardless of immigration, unemployment or other economic indicators...
"Symmetrically, the opening of tabacs is associated with a decline in far-right voting, suggesting that these dynamics are not irreversible.
"No other commercial closure produces a comparable effect. The specificity of tabacs lies in their function as a place of socialisation... The effects are three times stronger in rural communities, where these establishments often constitute the last place of sociability...
"When places of sociability disappear, politics becomes a face-off between atomised individuals and national media narratives."
It's certainly an important and significant relation which is pointed out here. But this is only one side of the medal. The other side is that (particularly young) people are dragged away from these public spaces by individual digital media consumption provided by powerful moguls using seductive and addictive offers and algorithms to capture people's attention and lifetimes.
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P pelle@veganism.social shared this topic
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@GeofCox Thanks for sharing this news.
One of the original report The Guardian cites about the French case links votes for the far right to the number of "bars-tabac" that have closed, not only in Paris but in every territory in France. This trend of closures is accompanied by a decline in social bounds.
Which reminds me of this sociological concept : the strength of weak ties (Mark Granovetter) which are pivotal for both social networks and flows of information.
We need cafés, bars and all kind of social places !@teinturs @GeofCox we see this clearly in youth criminal justice. It's not a lack of public spaces per se, but having community places where people can make meaningful social connection, and thereby give purpose to life.
https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/publications/killing-time-the-role-of-boredom-in-glasgow-gangs/
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I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.
@GeofCox I'm in Spain, where we seem to have plenty of bars & cafés around, but our far-right party continues to gain ground?
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@GeofCox I'm in Spain, where we seem to have plenty of bars & cafés around, but our far-right party continues to gain ground?
Not, however (from the figures I've seen) as much ground as in much of the rest of Europe.
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@jackwilliambell @GeofCox Perhaps more of an exposure to other people.
@green_bens @jackwilliambell @GeofCox
Well, given the definition of a third space, yes. -
It's certainly an important and significant relation which is pointed out here. But this is only one side of the medal. The other side is that (particularly young) people are dragged away from these public spaces by individual digital media consumption provided by powerful moguls using seductive and addictive offers and algorithms to capture people's attention and lifetimes.
@messaroundmarx My observation in Paris is that almost nobody is looking at their phone when sitting in a café (I see a few people working on laptops, by themselves). And bicycling infrastructure has really helped - coffee with gas fumes has almost disappeared, although cigarettes are still allowed outside.
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I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.
@GeofCox this might be somewhat true, or there is some truth to that. Isolation of people leads to manipulation and hatred.
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I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.
@GeofCox I despair of neighbours building ‘high fences’ around their ‘small gardens’. The loss of interaction with strangers and neighbours cultivates mistrust and that grows into fear and paranoia. A breeding ground for fascism.
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@GeofCox I despair of neighbours building ‘high fences’ around their ‘small gardens’. The loss of interaction with strangers and neighbours cultivates mistrust and that grows into fear and paranoia. A breeding ground for fascism.
@stooryduster Well, if you have a fascist neighbour, the fence can't be high enough ... (this is what we have in our neighbourhood). @GeofCox
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I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.
@GeofCox I live in very rural eastern France, far away from hyped Paris, in a horrible RN-fan region. When the bars/tabacs in our small towns were still open, the fascists gathered there, they gathered at the Regulars' table of the restaurants. You had left or right bars, they didn't change politics.
But I volunteer in a Third Place and it's something else building community: You don't stay alone, people chat with one another. You don't have to spend too much money and get animations. People
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@GeofCox I live in very rural eastern France, far away from hyped Paris, in a horrible RN-fan region. When the bars/tabacs in our small towns were still open, the fascists gathered there, they gathered at the Regulars' table of the restaurants. You had left or right bars, they didn't change politics.
But I volunteer in a Third Place and it's something else building community: You don't stay alone, people chat with one another. You don't have to spend too much money and get animations. People
@GeofCox can learn stuff, try new things with one another. It's an atmosphere like family - and most of all, it's diverse: all ages, all social classes, people from everywhere (also from other countries). It is essential to treat others with respect, without politics. So yes, we also have guests voting for the RN but then sitting in a talk about biodiversity.
Third places can put seeds of thoughts into people. They are important. But they're often very different to this travel guide ideas! -
@GeofCox Don't tell Toulouse!
But more seriously the lockdowns of the early covid years caused enormous disruption in the French "Associations" which up to that point were robust and varied, flourishing cultural organizations in every tiny hamlet community. That's been 6 years this spring and it's never fully come back. I am expecting to see a similar effect. I believe what you're saying from purely anecdotal experience.@Tarnport I see the same problem in eastern France.
In our cultural heritage centre in Alsace, we, the volunteers, worked extremely hard to get that life of our association back, succeeded.
But we still have a measurable disruption of visitor's culture. People changed their habits fundamentally; they lead to much greater isolation. We now have a huge problem with loneliness among very young people as never before, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach them. Social media.. -
"The closure of 'tabacs' (small local café-bars in France) contributes to the progression of far-right voting... regardless of immigration, unemployment or other economic indicators...
"Symmetrically, the opening of tabacs is associated with a decline in far-right voting, suggesting that these dynamics are not irreversible.
"No other commercial closure produces a comparable effect. The specificity of tabacs lies in their function as a place of socialisation... The effects are three times stronger in rural communities, where these establishments often constitute the last place of sociability...
"When places of sociability disappear, politics becomes a face-off between atomised individuals and national media narratives."
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I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.
One thing I'm super-grateful for locally is our repair fairs-cafes, which run almost 12 times a year. (Volunteers deserve a month off here and there.) You can feel so beaten-down by endless news of grift, abuse, and rampant individualism. Then you see the crowds that turn out for this and look after each other so well for (maybe) a break-even level of financial return. Suddenly, you get back the strength to keep going another month.
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I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.
@GeofCox
The French revolution was literally constructed in Coffee Shops in Paris (and beyond) . Social Space like this is invaluable to revolution. -
A abekonge@venner.network shared this topic
