Andrew W. M. Smith, "Make Cheese Not War: Transnational Resistance and the Larzac in Modern France" (Manchester UP, 2026)

About this episode

The episode features Dr. Andrew W. M. Smith discussing his book on the transnational resistance movement surrounding the Larzac protests in France during the 1970s.

In 1971, the French government announced a massive extension of its military base on the Larzac plateau in southern France. Land was to be expropriated from 107 farms around the small town of La Cavalerie. Limited resistance was expected, but what happened next exceeded all expectations. Local sheep farmers set up protest camps and occupied the land. They soon attracted an astonishing level of support, pioneering a form of regional radicalism with global implications. Drawing out the international dimensions of the protest, Make cheese not war: Transnational resistance and the Larzac in modern France (Manchester University Press, 2026) by Dr. Andrew Smith explores a transnational resistance movement in the 1970s that challenged dominant visions of modernity and became a wellspring of radical alternatives. Exploring previously unconsulted archives in France and elsewhere, the book offers an in-depth analysis of the decade-long peasant movement and its aftermath. Repositioning the Larzac struggle within a wider network of French and international solidarities, from the US to the UK, Germany, Burkina Faso, New Caledonia and Japan, the book retraces political networks of pacifist…

People in this episode

Host: Marshall Poe

Guest: Andrew W. M. Smith

Topics covered

• transnational resistance
• environmental movements
• French peasant movement
• military base protests
• radical alternatives
• political networks
• solidarity movements

Keywords

• Larzac
• transnational resistance
• French protests
• environmental activism
• radicalism
• military base
• peasant movement
• solidarity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Manchester University Press

Books & works: Make Cheese Not War: Transnational Resistance and the Larzac in Modern France

Places: Larzac plateau, La Cavalerie, France, US, UK, Germany, Burkina Faso, New Caledonia, Japan

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