Since the mid-1960s Western public opinion has focused on the issue of human rights violations
in the Soviet bloc which has been a matter for increasing concern. Growing Dissent in Eastern
European countries and the CSCE process compelled the Left in Western Europe to face the
contradictions and inconsistencies of the communist countries. This issue became a key topic in
domestic political debate in France - a country of freedom by definition - where many Eastern
European émigrés established themselves. In this book Dissent is used as a prism through which
to study relations between the Parti Communiste and the Parti Socialiste in France and Eastern
European governments. The main focus is the political confrontation between the two main
parties of the French Left - from the union de la gauche to their cohabitation in government in
the early 1980s. The study is based on wide-reaching research using primary archive documents
as well as press analyses and interviews mainly in France and Italy but also in the United
Kingdom the United States Spain and the Netherlands. The book examines international
relations domestic policies and cultural history to paint a complex picture of the fight for
leadership of the French Left during the 1970s.
