A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #370 - Politics - The Epstein Affair: Facing Conspiracy Theories, a Feminist and Class-Based Response (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The Epstein affair, which revealed international networks involving tax 
fraud and child sex trafficking, dominated the news at the beginning of 
2026. Widely documented by the press, it also became the subject of 
numerous conspiracy theories. What discourse can counter these 
manipulations? ---- While they were regularly overshadowed by 
international news, the Epstein files were clearly at the center of 
discussions in recent months, following the release of millions of 
documents by the United States Department of Justice on January 30. It 
must be said that the impact was immense. In France alone, they led to 
the resignation of Jack Lang from the Arab World Institute, the 
indictment of model recruiter Daniel Siad, and the implication of a 
diplomat from the Quai d'Orsay[1]. But the impact is global: from the 
British royal family to the shaken Norwegian government. Until the 
release of new documents on March 5, implicating Donald Trump.

"Flood the zone"
Undoubtedly, among other things, to protect itself, the Justice 
Department's method was deplorable: millions of pages of documents 
thrown to the wolves, randomly redacted, with a complete lack of 
protection for the victims, many of whom saw their personal information 
or identities made public. This was yet another application of the 
doctrine of Trump's former advisor, Steve Bannon: "flood the zone with 
shit," to paralyze the media and the opposition. The effect was 
spectacular: while even working day and night, it took serious 
journalists a few days to release the first important and verified 
information, conspiracy theories flourished immediately.

It must be said that the moment combined a phenomenal number of elements 
favored by conspiracy theories: secret government documents; redacted 
files; child sexual abuse; An unprecedented network of figures, mixing 
celebrities, politicians, and economic elites... And at the center of 
this web, a wealthy Jewish financier, Jeffrey Epstein. The opportunity 
is too good to pass up for the antisemitic far right, which has seized 
upon it worldwide. Alain Soral, speaking from Russia, where this career 
antisemite has found refuge from his numerous legal proceedings, has 
offered one of his usual pronouncements about a "Jewish mafia."

Defending an alternative interpretation
But the conspiracy theory unfortunately extends far beyond the sphere of 
far-right activists, and this is the main issue raised by the Epstein 
affair. Everywhere, our colleagues, our neighbors, our loved ones are 
sincerely asking themselves the same question: faced with such a 
serious, well-documented, and widely publicized case, how is it that we 
don't hear more about indictments, arrests, or detentions? Let no one 
respond by talking about the slowness of the justice system and the time 
required for investigations. We all know that in other circumstances, 
the State can act with great speed to imprison shoplifters, political 
activists, or petty criminals. We also know how quick its police are to 
open fire in working-class neighborhoods. This type of argument only 
highlights the disparities in treatment produced by our judicial and 
police systems.

Faced with this question, the conspiracy theory response is doubly 
seductive. First, because it allows for an extremely simple 
interpretation of an immensely complex case: the idea of a conspiracy 
orchestrated by an idealized elite. Second, because in this simplicity, 
it ultimately allows for the possibility of maintaining the status quo: 
the conspiracy theory explanation doesn't involve rethinking our 
capitalist mode of production, much less attacking the patriarchy. No, 
in this interpretation, everything rests on an "active minority", which 
must be prevented from doing harm in order to restore a fantasized moral 
order.

To prevent this framework from taking hold, only one option is possible: 
an unflinching Marxist and feminist analysis. Marxist, because the 
Epstein case reveals the entire class consciousness of the bourgeoisie, 
so clearly does the case file demonstrate its enthusiasm for organizing 
its economic interests. Feminist, because it would be reductive and 
incomplete to see only a social class mechanism at work here: no 
feminist activist is surprised that 99% of the names appearing in the 
files are those of men, particularly concerning sexual crimes. The Mazan 
case reminded us that men do not need to be bourgeois to organize 
themselves into networks of sexual predators: wealth merely expands the 
size of their networks. In this regard, let's not allow the economic 
revelations to overshadow the scale of the sexual crimes in the Epstein 
case: we're talking about more than 1,000 underage or young adult women 
who were abused, assaulted, or raped, all over the world, and 
particularly in Paris where Epstein owned a vast apartment.

22 Avenue Foch in Paris, where Jeffrey Epstein owned an 800-square-meter 
apartment.

Wikimedia/CVB
Class Solidarity
In the Epstein case, the intertwining of capitalism and patriarchy is 
laid bare, revealing how they feed off each other in service of two 
classes: the bourgeoisie and men. This class-based analysis is essential 
because it offers a materialist framework for understanding the affair, 
but also because it provides us with real avenues for action, whereas 
conspiracy theories trap us in simplistic and hateful false solutions. 
Building class consciousness all around us then appears as the only 
bulwark against conspiracy theories, and consequently against the far right.

We cannot count on the reformist left to do this work. Beyond a few 
moral pronouncements, the parties of the parliamentary left have largely 
sought to avoid discussing the affair too much, for fear of 
repercussions within their ranks. Worse, Mélenchon committed a genuine 
conspiracy-theory dog whistle[2]by mentioning the pronunciation of 
Epstein's name during a rally[3]. This sequence was heavily criticized 
from the perspective of antisemitism, but its conspiratorial dimension 
has surely been insufficiently addressed. Yet this is the main mechanism 
at play within LFI: imposing a discourse on an ethereal "elite" to 
support a falsely revolutionary program that attacks a few individuals 
without touching the foundations of capitalism and patriarchy.

Against all conspiracy theories, it is up to us to impose a clear 
materialist vision of current events: the Epstein cases reveal how the 
bourgeoisie and patriarchy organize and structure their class 
solidarities. It is up to us to build our own.

N. Bartosek (UCL Alsace)

Submit

[1]On all these subjects, and other aspects of the Epstein cases, see 
the Mediapart dossier "In the Web of Jeffrey Epstein."

[2]A dog whistle is a message designed to be understood by a group 
without arousing suspicion among those outside it. If you didn't 
understand Mélenchon's allusion at this meeting, rest assured that the 
activists who instantly applauded him certainly understood the message.

[3]See Jean-Luc Mélenchon's meeting in Lyon on February 6, 2026, 
available on YouTube. The remarks in question occur at the 51-minute mark.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Affaire-Epstein-Face-au-complotisme-une-reponse-feministe-et-de-classe
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en