The success of a group by the name of SCALP in attracting media attention at a rally in Toulouse on June 6, 1984 led to the creation of numerous other groups sharing the same acronym in different cities around France. This first wave of SCALPs, developing alongside the alternative rock movement, disbanded in the early 1980s. An attempt to unite the different groups under a proposed National Anti-Fascist Representative Committee never took off, the Paris section of SCALP splintering in 1990.
History
After one or two years of dormancy, elements of the original Paris SCALP who had been running the magazine REFLEXes revived SCALP, using the acronym and the mythos surrounding it to attract the interest of young recruits. At the same time, the new SCALP distanced itself from the autonomist movement, opting to align itself more closely with traditional libertarian groups. Some members later left to join the National Confederation of Labour. In 1992, the new SCALP organized itself into a national network called No Pasaran Network - a federation of the different local SCALP groups. The Paris group became known as SCALP-REFLEX. The radical measures taken by the network during their actions resulted in damage to premises and public property. In 2004, more individuals quit the group, later going on to found the Libertarian and Social Offensive. In 2006 SCALP-REFLEX participated in demonstrations and university assemblées générales. They were involved in the occupation of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. Activists from the group clashed with those of the far right at a rally outside the Sorbonne on March 14, 2006. On May 9, 2007 the group, along with other libertarian and student organisations, called for a counter-demonstration to be held to physically oppose a demonstration by the far right and to "show them they don't own the street." Fearing a police crackdown, the organisers - with the exception of SCALP - called for the counter-demonstration to be canceled. Several activists who attended the rally were arrested.
Current status
If current estimates of the group's strength as between 400 and 500 members are correct, more than 6000 people may have passed through its ranks since its founding. Pornographic actressOvidie is a former member of SCALP.
Publications
No Pasaran, the monthly publication of the network, is circulated in libraries and sectional offices. Numerous pamphlets on the far right have also been authored by the group. In 2005 SCALP published Comme un indien Métropolitain, which deals with the history of the movement between 1984 and 1992.
