‘The world is watching’: French protests show enduring collective will
Most people cherish stability. Many are willing to put up with some repeated disruption to affect social change. Our Paris-based writer takes the measure of current French protests and puts this robust season of clashes in context.
You could argue that nobody does protests like the French.
They are practiced. The right to rebel has been codified in the nation’s constitution since shortly after the French Revolution.
Recent waves of protests in Paris and in other French cities have splashed across TV screens, showing crowds that are huge even by French standards. Some have turned violent. Reform of the retirement system ignited this round.
“But it’s not the only reason,” Paris-based writer Colette Davidson says on the Monitor’s “Why We Wrote This” podcast. “People are angry that they feel that [President] Macron has, little by little, chipped away at public services ... and that they don’t have the sense that they can have much faith in their future.”
To the government, the need for reform – for people to work two years longer – is an issue of simple math. (A Constitutional Council ruling on the legality of the bill is expected April 14.) Protesters question the urgency and say it takes into account too few future variables. Their perseverance is rooted in a collective feeling of being ignored, Colette says. Their pushback is rooted in unity and a perception of fairness.
“The French have this tradition of protesting,” she says. “It’s really ingrained in their culture. ... And it really brings French people together. There is this feeling that it can still do something, and that’s why so many people are joining the movement.”
Episode transcript
Clay Collins: In any number of countries in the world, street demonstrations can bring severe consequences and crackdowns. In France, protest is practically a way of life, and that has long been the case. The “right to rebellion” was enshrined in the French Constitution not long after the French Revolution.
The Monitor’s Colette Davidson is based in Paris. She’s been reporting on the current protests there and elsewhere in France. They are large, and growing. As Colette reports, using government data, few issues over the past three decades have brought more than a million protestors out onto the streets at once. This year’s protests have already done so at least four times.
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Collins: This is “Why We Wrote This.” I’m Clay Collins. Colette joins us today.
Welcome, Colette.
Colette Davidson: Hi. Thanks for having me.
Collins: So, we worked around some disrupted home life on your end, just to get this interview scheduled. Can you tell us what it’s been like day to day in Paris lately?
Davidson: Sure. So what you’re referring to is all the teachers going on strike. [This interview dates back a couple of weeks.] I have two kids, and it seems like we haven’t had just a full week of school in months. I mean, that’s not exactly the case, but there have been a lot of strikes and there have been a lot of teachers joining that strike. You also have metros, full lines or just single stops that are closed down during protest movements. And even there was a period of time recently where there was quite a bit of violence in the evening. I went to a movie one night. And when I came out, there were sirens everywhere, the metros were blocked, the garbage collectors had been on strike. So there was garbage on fire in almost every street that we went to. You didn’t know how to get home. So these [are] things that, um, you don’t think are going to happen in your daily life. There are some people who have been impacted by having their trains or their planes canceled. And it’s just this kind of sense of instability. You can feel it in the air that, you know, “What is going to happen next?”
Collins: Hmm. Lots of things bring people out into the streets. And a sense that one’s economic future is at risk is one of those things. In 2018, there were issues of taxation and fairness that partly led to the so-called Yellow Vest movement. This one, largely rooted in retirement reform, seems a lot bigger. Why is that?
Davidson: Well, I mean it’s not just about this current reform. Many, many presidents have tried to reform the retirement system, without much success. And it seems that whenever anyone tries to touch the legal age of retirement, that’s what really ignites the French. So that’s kind of what happened this time around. President Macron wants to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, and that was what initially brought people out on the streets. But it’s not the only reason. People are angry that they feel that Macron has, little by little, chipped away at public services, like schools or hospitals, and that they don’t have the sense that they can have much faith in their future. And that’s kind of why people, especially young people, are joining. You can see images of high schoolers joining the protest movement about pension. And you think, “why is that?” It’s growing discontent, I would say, about many issues.
Collins: Hmm. And Emmanuel Macron’s style, as you mentioned, has been questioned by some people. But can you articulate the government’s case here, how generational demographics and all of the attending numbers maybe call for some adjustments and some reform. And also how did you hold that perspective and balance in your reporting?
Davidson: Sure. So the government’s standpoint is that this is really just basic math. If you take what we have in the budget now and you put that toward, you know, what is the pension system going to look like in 2030 or 2050? The numbers don’t add up. There’s just not enough money. So that’s where the government is coming from. And as I said, so many governments have tried different things: a point system, um, changing the age, changing, like, statuses of certain types of jobs.
So you have this government point of view. But then you also have people and quite reputable consulting groups saying: “Hang on. We shouldn’t be looking at just budget. Let’s look at all the different factors at play. Like, we should be looking at overall GDP. We should be looking at birth rate, life expectancy, the way that salaries might go up as the years go by. And these could all change the numbers.” That’s why these groups are saying: “This isn’t so urgent. Why is Macron making it so urgent?” So you see the two sides. Another big factor is the trade unions. They don’t feel that Macron has really interacted with them in the way that they want. So there’s some real discontent between the authorities and the unions.
Collins: You explore in your story the idea of whether protests can remain effective if it’s basically the rule and not the exception. And people may think about 1968 in France and things coming to a standstill. There were protests, as you write, in the mid-90s and again in the mid-2000. So what does it take for a people to sustain protests that feel effective and not just performative?
Davidson: So the Monitor’s Europe editor, Arthur Bright, my editor, he initially asked this question: If the French are always protesting, how effective can protests really be? And as I started looking into this, I started to be really curious myself, especially as things moved on and the bill was adopted, and you still saw the protests continuing, and not just continuing but growing. It really did make me think: “How can protests do anything at this point?” And the fact is they can, because history shows us that they can. The French have this tradition of protesting. It’s really ingrained in their culture. They take pleasure in it, you know. It can be quite festive, people playing drums and singing. And it really brings French people together. There is this feeling that it can still do something, and that’s why so many people are joining the movement, even youth. I was at a protest recently and there were two young girls. They were university students. They said it was their first time protesting ever. They felt called to be there and let their voices be heard.
Collins: Hmm. you also describe a kind of broadening range of grievances. Um, some people major upheaval and not just the withdrawal of a pension policy. It’s so fundamental. Almost in the way that some of the current Israeli protests are, where I saw that [unrest] described as “a high stakes game of chicken.” How do you see this playing out from here in France? Is there also a desire for stability that will maybe bring some political compromise?
Davidson: Well, it’s a good question. I think this desire for stability, sure, this is what people ultimately want. But I think the government might be moved towards stability more than the people. Because uh, when you talk to people who are against the reform, they don’t necessarily feel bothered by all of these blockades and strikes. There are, you know, all these media reports of people sitting in their cars in the south of France, waiting for gas for two hours. But then when you asked: “Are you in support of the protest?” They say: “Yes, you know, this is annoying. But they’re doing the right thing.” So, um, stability is relative, I would say. The government could be swayed based on their image abroad. The summer Olympics are next year to be held in Paris. So the world is really watching what the government will do, if France is a safe place to be. And already Britain’s King Charles III, he had to postpone his visit recently because of security concerns. So there are things that could ultimately push the government to drop this reform, but it’s very unclear which way this is going to go.
Collins: Well, thank you, Colette, for the story. And I hope the daily disruptions in your personal life are not, are not too hard over the next couple of weeks.
Davidson: Thanks very much.
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Collins: Thanks for listening. You can find more, including our show notes with links to Collette’s work, at csmonitor.com/WhyWeWroteThis, or wherever you listen to podcasts. This episode was hosted by me, Clay Collins, and produced by Jingnan Peng. Tim Malone and Alyssa Britton were our engineers, with original music by Noel Flatt. Produced by the Christian Science Monitor. Copyright 2023.
