Social change and socialist politics: Alexandre Millerand and the contradictions of French reformism, 1899–1902
Résumé
During the Affaire Dreyfus, the socialist leader Alexandre Millerand was appointed Minister of Commerce. Between 1899 and 1902, he instigated crucial social reforms, such as the limitation of working day or the compulsory arbitration of industrial conflicts. However, his action has been under-estimated by historians of socialism and historians of social reform. On the one hand, Millerand’s governmental experience is considered as a pivotal break leading to the foundation of a unified socialist party, neglecting his intellectual coherence. On the other hand, his action is a mere step in the definition of the Third Republic social policy, ignoring the specificity of his socialist convictions. This article aims at examining the Minister’s ideas and practices, by understanding his conception of social reform in the contradicting intellectual and political context of Republican « nébuleuses réformatrices » and socialist reformism. These contradictions are at work in Millerand’s projects.