For those who want to hinder the action of the government, the “casserolades” are a brilliant means of expression. To about twenty activists and as many kitchen utensils, you disrupt a demonstration. Cling, cling, cling, the noise of the ladles on the lids covers the voice of your interlocutor. Among many others, Aurore Bergé, the president of the Macronist deputies, experienced the din in Montbéliard (Doubs), on April 28. On a video, we observe him trying in vain to discuss with the apprentice musicians. Inaudible. Opponents are jubilant. Same scene or almost on April 24, in Salon-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), where the deputy Jean-Marc Zulesi (Renaissance) tried to explain himself in front of a dozen activists – the winks cover his words – before being followed for several tens of meters, still to the sound of metal.
The approach produces a maximum of nuisance for a minimum of resources. A handful of union or political activists is therefore enough to destabilize a parliamentarian or a minister. According to the flags waved here and there, representatives of the CGT, Solidaires, the National Confederation of Labour, the Libertarian Communist Union, Antifascist Action, France Insoumise or the New Anti-Capitalist Party seem particularly involved. That’s not all ! The operation is also intended to be comical, telegenic and shrouded in historical prestige. Funny because the incongruity of the diversion of a kitchen utensil for the purposes of activism will a priori put the laughers on your side. The show Daily laughed at the confiscations of pans on the sidelines of a trip by Emmanuel Macron to the Hérault… while the gratin dishes were spared. If the prefects are to transform themselves into Ikea advisers, it is because the power is very feverish. The bans on “casserole” on May 8, in Paris and Lyon, were also widely relayed. Police officers facing pots, is it really serious?
Never mind that noise – symbolic of an intolerance to the existence of others – produces real nuisances, such as the impossibility of expressing oneself in public, the images produce a disastrous effect. In Release of this Tuesday, May 9, Thomas Legrand also delivers a dismayed analysis of the rise of the Champs-Elysées by Emmanuel Macron, this May 8. Only. The public had been kept at a distance by the prefecture. “What’s in Emmanuel Macron’s head to accept the recommendations of a prefect who wants to sanitize the celebration of the Nazi surrender so badly? To avoid a casserole? If we’re there, it’s that our democracy […] has reached a peak of dramatic immaturity”. CQFD.
Policy-show
The other prodigy of this gesture is to marry perfectly the spirit of the time of the politics-spectacle. Add to the “cling, cling” a few union flags as well as a cordon of CRS separating the disharmonious orchestra from the procession of officials, and you have a scene of telegenic agit-prop. This Sunday, May 7, several national media broadcast the rebellious “casserolade” at Renaissance HQ, even though there were only a few dozen activists… as the viewer could discover on the images. Unbeatable multiplier coefficient. To the extent that Challenges notes in its edition of May 4 that certain ministers in need of notoriety put up with these hullabaloos… and even see an advantage in it: the cameras are finally interested in them!
Finally, there is prestige. The history of the “pans” seems majestic, linked to the republican struggles of the July monarchy, from 1830. Opponents of the royalist government thus target deputies in favor of a return to order. Here are the anti-pension reform activists related to Gavroche! Subjective presentation, in reality, since the OAS, the Poujadists or the Chilean right have also used this weapon of communication.
Several points therefore plead to relativize the “sympathy capital” enjoyed by these “casserolades”. However, whatever one thinks, they pose a political problem for Emmanuel Macron and his supporters, easily caricatured as aristocrats overwhelmed by citizen unrest. How long will this last, wonder today several ministers, who hope that public opinion will eventually get tired of this heckling. We could advise the president, but not sure if it is doing him a favor, to draw inspiration from Louis-Philippe: despite the pans, the king continued to govern as if nothing had happened. The July Monarchy lasted until 1848.