“Siamo tutti antifascisti” – We are all antifascists. On this morning of April 14, a few hundred students massed in the Place de La Sorbonne sing the song of the Italian fighters who had risen in the past against the dictatorship of Mussolini, while chanting the syllables by clapping their hands. All came to support their comrades who have occupied the premises since the day before. Once is not custom, the universities traditionally mobilized like that of Nanterre or Paris 8 are rather discreet in this between-two-turns. Against all expectations, it was above all the University of Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne which made itself heard by organizing one of the first GAs leading to a blockade. The campus of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, in the 14th arrondissement of the capital, but also Sciences-Po, rue Saint-Guillaume, in the 6th arrondissement, have also risen to the forefront of this fight… very Parisian, even germanopratin. Several renowned high schools – including Henri IV, Louis Le Grand, Lamartine, Lavoisier – are also beginning to follow in their footsteps. Elsewhere, particularly in the regions, the few other student mobilizations are struggling to emerge. In question ? The approach of the partials, the disinterest in politics, the lack of organization, the mistrust vis-à-vis the organizers who are often close to the “antifa” movements… But also, and above all, the difficulty of agreeing on a common watchword as the second round approaches.
This April 14, place de la Sorbonne, the signs “Ni Le Pen, nor Macron” bloom. All the young people present have in common this anger and this frustration of not feeling heard by their elders. “We were robbed of our election. All the old people voted Macron to defend their own interests. They have nothing to do with the climate or the fight against racism! Me it’s clear, I will abstain on the 24th next April,” exclaims Manon*, a 19-year-old literature student who voted for Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round. The candidate of rebellious France is a great success with 18-24 year olds who voted for him at 31%, even if other names of candidates emerge in the crowd, such as those of Philippe Poutou (NPA), Yannick Jadot (EELV) or Fabien Roussel (PCF).
“And now, what do we do?” asks Hugo *, 24, registered in art history license. Having the extreme right or the extreme right as the only alternative is not very pleasant”, he shouts about the Macron-Le Pen confrontation. His voice is covered by the slogan repeated in a loop: “Down with the ‘State, the cops and the fachos’. Mélanie*, who came to demonstrate with two other girlfriends, also hesitates. Macron, like the others, does not seem to have taken the measure of the danger. I am tempted to abstain to show my disagreement”, she argues. Even if her parents try to convince her to go to the polling station. “They are part of this generation traumatized by the shock of the presidential election of 2002. It’s different for us, we’re used to seeing Le Pen’s name in the landscape. His qualification is not necessarily experienced as an earthquake”, continues the young girl.
A loosely organized and fairly spontaneous movement
From the roof of the Sorbonne, the occupants, masked and hooded, greet the crowd which begins The International. Difficult to know by whom the movement is led. “There are also certain branches of unions such as Unef or Solidaires, as well as far left, anti-capitalist and revolutionary groups. In short, we are faced with a movement that is not very organized and quite spontaneous”, explains Paolo Stuppia, doctor in political science and author of Geopolitics of youth. Engagement and (de)mobilization (The Blue Rider, 2021). Contrary to 2002, or even to 2007, the major student organizations do not always explicitly call for the Republican blockade. “As far as we are concerned, the watchword is clear: we are calling for Macron to vote… even if it tears our throats out,” insists Zinedine Amiane, secretary general of Unef Paris I, who was present. That day. “The idea is to fight Marine le Pen at the ballot box and Emmanuel Macron in the street,” he continues.
Suddenly, while an activist seizes the megaphone to try to organize the continuation of the mobilization, projectiles – chairs, printer, bottles… – are thrown from the roof of the Sorbonne. The police disperse the crowd with tear gas. “Not very clever on the part of our comrades who give a bad image of the movement. Already it is difficult to be heard or understood…”, sighs a demonstrator, his eyes reddened. That same morning of April 14, a blockade was organized at Sciences Po, three metro stations away. “For the honor of the workers and for a better world, even if Macron does not want to, we are here”, sings the thirty students massed in front of the entrance to rue Saint-Guillaume. “What is needed is to release Le Pen and fight Macron. But we do not give a watchword. Everyone will vote or not in their soul and conscience”, declares this participant. A little on the sidelines, Arthur*, enrolled in the fourth year, seems totally annoyed. “What do I feel? A feeling of shame. Blocking a school that teaches political science is total nonsense!”, He laments.
“These young people feel that their election has been stolen from them”
For sociologist Olivier Galland, author of the book 20 years old, the beautiful age? (Nathan, 2022) based on a large Harris Interactive survey for the Montaigne Institute, this mobilization would be marginal. “We must beware of the magnifying glass effect! The modes of protest implemented today, which sometimes go so far as to block the universities, can have a misleading effect, he warns. This movement is far from representing youth as a whole”. For the specialist, these demonstrators seem to come from fairly privileged backgrounds, on the whole little concerned with the problems of precariousness. He also considers the slogan “Ni Macron, ni Le Pen” dangerous. “These young people have the feeling that their election has been stolen from them. They thus seem to forget one of the basic principles of democracy: voters who have voted for candidates who find themselves in the minority at the end of the ballot must recognize, despite everything, the result. And accept that the candidate or the party which obtained the majority governs over a fixed period. Otherwise, that poses a problem in my opinion”, he insists.
For Robi Morder, president of the Group for Studies and Research on the Student Movement, “one cannot deny a certain form of trivialization of the presence of the extreme right in the second round”. “But there is also, on the contrary, a part of amazement which can lead to a certain confusion among these young people”, he continues. According to him, the back-to-back dismissal of the two presidential finalists is also the result of an epidermal reaction among some students. “The recent episode of the Covid, the criticisms against Parcoursup, the rise of precariousness form an anti-Macron cocktail. For many, the latter also represents authoritarianism, repression, hostility towards refugees”, he explains. The big advantage of Marine le Pen? “Unlike the outgoing president, she has never governed, so her project remains quite abstract,” says Robi Morder, while remaining cautious in his analysis and predictions, convinced that the position of voters will evolve over the days.
This is the case for Solène* who, on April 16, took part in the Parisian demonstration against the far right. Two days earlier, the girl was from the blockade of the Sorbonne. “Initially, I thought I would abstain. Then I said to myself that, even if Macron is making us live through hell, we must have an order of priority in our struggles. The urgency today is to block Marine Le Pen”, she explains at the start of Nation, brandishing a sign “France land of welcome, it is the fachos that must be cleared”. A little further on, Antoine*, 20, with a Don’t Touch My Buddy sticker on his jacket, admits “changing his mind every ten minutes”. “But I don’t think I will decide. That way, whoever wins, I can always tell myself that I am not responsible,” he finally decides. Faced with this type of reaction, Agathe, enrolled in a Master’s degree in education and history-geography, does not hide her anger. “By behaving like that, my ‘comrades’ are playing Le Pen’s game, she laments. It’s easy to refuse to decide when you’re white, privileged and you don’t have much This dangerous game is very likely to turn against people of immigrant origin who are primarily targeted by fascism.”
Among young people and students, there are also all those who abstained in the first round – 41% of 18-24 year olds, against 26% of the rest of the population – and who will also be careful not to vote in the second. Not necessarily out of conviction but out of disinterest. “In our survey, carried out by the Harris Interactive Institute, 34% of individuals in this age group believe that voting is not very useful. And 55% of them say they do not feel close to any party politics”, explains Olivier Galland. A phenomenon that the future president, whoever he is, will have to take seriously.
* The first name has been changed