[Blog] Edgar Morin is no more…

By Rama Valayden, Senior Counsel

France’s intellectual grandfather is no more. He passed away at the age of 104 years and even on the eve of his death he was a former member of the “Resistance” and Edgar Morin has never shied away from any intellectual debate to defend oppressed people.

Recently, he sided without any ambiguity with the Palestinians. 
In 2002, Edgar Morin co-authored a highly publicised article “Israel-Palestine: Le Cancer” in which he criticised with much venom Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Edgar Morin drew a parallel between Jewish historical trauma and the treatment of Palestinians, famously stating that descendants of an apartheid-like ghetto are now ghettoizing others. The article “Israel-Palestine” sparked a fierce legal battle where he was initially found guilty of anti-Semitism. Edgar Morin appealed against his conviction and was cleared by France’s highest appeal court, a ruling that won him widespread academic sympathy.

Edgar Morin was a strong advocate for a two-state solution and urged on many occasions the French Government to recognise the State of Palestine. Edgar Morin viewed it both a moral necessity and a prerequisite for lasting peace.

His recent stances are still resounding in the minds of all peace lovers round the world. Following the events of October 7, Edgar Morin condemned the violence of Hamas but he remained fiercely critical of the genocidal toll on civilians calling it a “carnage” and without mincing his words condemned the silence of the international community.

At one period in his life, Edgar Morin a “resistant” joined the French Communist Party (PCF) in 1941 during the Nazi occupation of France. During the occupation, the resistants were militating (for obvious reasons) under different aliases and he operated under the alias “Morin”, a surname he ultimately kept for the rest of his life.

Edgar Morin was expelled from the then Stalinist French Communist Party after he was condemned for publishing articles deemed to be “Pro-American”. After being ousted from the Communist Party, Morin in 1959 wrote a famous book “Autocritique” wherein he expressed his lifelong suspicion of dogmatic indoctrination.

“Jeunes: cultivez-vous”

Edgar Morin’s message to the youth of the world was like a leitmotif: “cultivez-vous”. The appeal is for the youngsters to continue to enrich themselves from different sources. Edgar Morin’s message was also to be intolerant to intolerance. I humbly propose to General Paper teachers to incite their students to view on the website of UNESCO the interview entitled “Talking to Edgar Morin: Dialogue Assumes Equality”. The interview was carried out by Sophie Boukhari. In the marathon illuminating interview he rightly said, “Manichean situations make dialogue impossible”.

In that great interview he explained to us: what is dialogue and what are the conditions for dialogue. Morin also reminded us of what the Spanish priest Bartolomé de las Casas who said that the American Indigenous People were humans like everyone else … you must absolutely view that interview. Not once, but several times as it is intellectually very condensed.

Morin also had great admiration for the struggle of both Nelson Mandela and Aimé Césaire for those who don’t know Aimé Césaire is the founder of the concept “La Négritude”.

In Camp Levieux there is a school named Aimé Césaire which was done following my proposal while I was Cabinet Minister in April 2008. I remember very well that a minister who was known to be “inculte” said in response to my proposal “Premie ministre pas kone ki Rama ganye enkor” Cesar inn mor lontan ek li pe nou nom lekol Cesar …

But coming back to Morin, he has written numerous books and some of his key works are:

(1)    “L’Esprit du temps”
(2)    “L’Homme et la mort”
(3)    “Au péril des idées” with Tariq Ramadan.
(4)    “La Voie”
(5)    “Réveillons-nous!”

So please, if you wish to enrich yourself go and read about Edgar Morin. You can buy some of his books at Bookcourt Bagatelle. Hope that I will not be cursed for making the publicity of this bookshop…