Gauche caviar

Gauche caviar (Caviar left) is a pejorative French term to describe someone who claims to be a socialist while living in a way that contradicts socialist values. The expression is a political neologism dating from the 1980s and implies a degree of hypocrisy.

It is broadly similar to the English champagne socialist, the American Limousine liberal, the German "Salonsozialist" the Italian "Radical Chic" and the Danish "Kystbanesocialist", referring to well-off coastal neighborhoods north of Copenhagen. Similar terms in English include Hampstead liberal, liberal elite, chardonnay socialist, champagne socialist, champagne-and-caviar socialist.

The dictionary Petit Larousse defines "left caviar" as a pejorative expression for a "Progressivism combined with a taste for society life and its accoutrements".[1]

The term was once prevalent in Parisian circles, applied deprecatingly to those who professed allegiance to the Socialist Party, but who maintained a far from proletariat lifestyle that distinguished them from the working-class base of the French Socialist Party.

It was often employed by detractors of François Mitterrand.[2][3]

In early 2007, Ségolène Royal was identified with the "gauche caviar" when it was revealed that she had been avoiding paying taxes. The description damaged her campaign for the French presidency.[4] Similarly French politician Bernard Kouchner and his wife Christine Ockrent have been labelled with the term. However, his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs was not hampered by the label.[5]

The weekly French news magazine, Le Nouvel Observateur, has been described as the "quasi-official organ of France's 'gauche caviar'".[6]

References

  1. ^ http://www.larousse.fr : under Caviar: Gauche caviar, gauche dont le progressisme s'allie au goût des mondanités et des situations acquises
  2. ^ Boulé, Jean-Pierre (2002). HIV Stories: The Archaeology of AIDS Writing in France, 1985-1988. Liverpool University Press. p. 20. ISBN 0853235686. http://books.google.com/books?id=jrCe45fazTQC. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
  3. ^ Raphael-Hernandez, Heike; Paul Gilroy (2004). Blackening Europe: The African American Presence. Routledge. p. 158. ISBN 041594399X. http://books.google.com/books?id=DUePwcXikocC&dq. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
  4. ^ Allen, Peter (January 18, 2007). "French Socialist Is Accused Of Failing To Pay Her Taxes". The Daily Telegraph - republished by The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/foreign/french-socialist-is-accused-of-failing-to-pay-her/46935/. Retrieved 2008-09-11. "Segolene Royal, the doyenne of the French left, suffered an embarrassing blow to her image as a presidential candidate yesterday when she was accused of tax dodging. Faced with taunts about being a gauche caviar, the Gallic equivalent of a champagne socialist, she denied being rich, instead claiming that she was just "well-off."" 
  5. ^ Sciolino, Elaine (May 18, 2007). "A Surprising Choice for France's Foreign Minister". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/world/europe/18cnd-kouchner.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-09-12. "Elegant and dapper, with movie-star looks despite his age, Mr. Kouchner is half of one of France’s leading power couples. His longtime partner, Christine Ockrent, is probably France’s best-known television journalist. They entertain regularly from their grand duplex apartment overlooking the Luxembourg Gardens; they always get the best restaurant tables. They have been tarred with the label "gauche caviar," champagne-and-caviar socialism at its worst." 
  6. ^ Vinocur, John (June 20, 2006). "Chirac's Potential Heirs Keeping Change Hidden". International Herald Tribune, republished by The New york Times. http://select.nytimes.com/iht/2006/06/20/world/IHT-20politicus.html. Retrieved 2008-09-12.