GeofCox

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.

Progressive Paris has many weapons to fight the far right, but the best? Spaces where you can simply hang out

Drop into any of the French capital’s ‘third places’ and you’ll find food, culture, community – and an antidote to the disaffection extremists feed on, says Paris-based writer Alexander Hurst

The Guardian
Mar 28 at 1:55pmWeb
Show threadJack William Bell1d ago

@GeofCox

The social and political value of a 'third space'?

Show threadBensGreenGamingAc15h ago
@jackwilliambell @GeofCox Perhaps more of an exposure to other people.
Show threadMmmm1d ago
@GeofCox far-right is just friendless behavior
Show threadGeofCox1d ago

@photom @rogerb @jackwilliambell

It's certainly true that the left has always depended on people coming together - solidarity - while the right depends on the old 'divide and rule'.

It's also true that capitalism in the developed world now has moved away from small, local community spaces like cafés and bars, towards selling subscriptions viewed in lonely living rooms, or paid activities in larger, remote and anonymous venues; big workplaces with surrounding housing estates have disintegrated into dozens of small businesses that workers commute to from distant suburbs.

The public sector too in many places has moved out of youth and community centres, evening classes, public libraries, etc... So where's the social life that once incubated left organisation ?

Show threadViolet Madder11h ago

@GeofCox @photom @rogerb @jackwilliambell

This is a crucial part of WHY the fossil fuel tycoons made certain the USA was built around and for cars instead of people.

It's isolating.

Overworked, underpaid and spending a very large part of our limited free time stuck alone in a little metal box frustrated with all the other metal boxes in the way. Tagged with numbers, surveilled at every turn.

Social skills eroding. Frightened of eye contact on the bus. Atomized. Bite-sized.

Show threadarrbee1d ago
@GeofCox
See also Vienna cafe society at the end of the 19th century
Show threadTarnport16h ago
@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.
Show threadMike 🇬🇧 🇪🇺14h ago

@GeofCox
This resonates with a thought I had a couple of months ago about a group of flag-shaggers who were gathering each Saturday at a local crossroads.

In past times they'd have been going to meet up at a local pub (all closed round here) or to play in a Social type sports club - now all priced out of reach by private/council leisure centres, or in church based activities.
The space is getting filled online by right wing oddballs who gives these people a sense of togetherness and belonging (despite the fact they're just being used by millionaires).

Cafés and social centres as third spaces - for all generations - seem to be essential for the cohesion of a civil society.

Show threadSara Teinturier13h ago

@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 !

(in French)
https://www.cepremap.fr/2026/01/quand-les-bars-tabacs-ferment-lerosion-du-lien-social-local-et-la-progression-du-vote-dextreme-droite-en-france/

Quand les bars-tabacs ferment : l’érosion du lien social local et la progression du vote d’extrême droite en France – CEPREMAP

Show threadGeofCox10h ago

@teinturs

"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."

Show threadAnthk11h ago
@GeofCox Pollution with heavy metals and alcohol = dumbed down hyppocampus, mental issues, source for troubles, thugs rising. And then the far right gets votes like crazy as 'saviours'.
Show threadPaul_IPv64h ago

@GeofCox

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.