Fragile Hands and the True Life

Abstract Robert Linhart was a leader of the French Maoists and an analyst of Lenin's theory and practice during the 1968 years. He is best known for his account of working in a French automobile factory in 1968–1969, L’Établi, published in 1978. This essay analyzes what he brought to this experience and what he took from it. Mathias Gokalp adapted L’Établi for a new audience in a film released in 2023. Linhart's story belongs to a particular political and economic world past but continues to challenge those who engage with it today.