Thousands of demonstrators in the streets and on roundabouts in France. Six years ago the movement of “ Yellow vests “. Spontaneous and citizen social anger against the decline in purchasing power. Rallies had taken place every Saturday for months, all over the country. Six years later, diehards continue the fight. The slogans have not changed, but the modes of action have evolved. In Paris, 200 of them demonstrated on Saturday November 16.
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“ Always standing, never kneeling », written in black letters on a large banner. Nor the songs, nor the demands have changed in six years for the “ Yellow vests “. There is purchasing power: “ On June 15, you have nothing left. What’s it going to be like this Christmas ? Children who are not going to have anything? », asks a demonstrator.
The feeling of being downgraded too. “ You see Michelin stop and then others, eh. There Franceshe is no longer upstairs, she is downstairs, sir “, she also affirms.
But six years later, the ranks are thinner. Some became discouraged, believes Adrien. According to him, the fault lies in judicial and police repression, and the risk of fines: “ There were more than 10 of us 000 euros, it took us almost six years to pay and we are still paying. So yes, there are a lot of people who are afraid to go out. »
So to mobilize again and make itself heard, the movement has adapted. No more Saturday marches, other forms of mobilization have been tested. “ We blocked many large institutionssays Salim, a yellow vest from the start. We often went to the Champs-Élysées. It worked, yes, it worked. There were many people who joined our movement. Not on the field, but psychologically, intellectually. »
And this is also the strategy that Jean-Marc advocates. He wrote a book in which he summarizes his demands. “ It’s another way of mobilizing because I think that demonstration is not enough and therefore it is also a way of continuing my fight by trying to open the eyes of as many people as possible. », he testifies, wanting to leave a mark, he says, for future generations.
“The “Yellow Vests” will not return to public spaces in the same way”
Six years later, the “Yellow Vests” movement has run out of steam. Mobilization continues to permeate society in other forms of action. Particularly on a local scale, believes Emmanuelle Reungoat, lecturer in political science at the University of Montpellier.
“ Those I followed went, for example, to support other movements. They set up their own marauding associations, helping the most deprived, or quite simply, they remained in a network among themselves. These are people who see each other, but often, it’s less on roundabouts. Often, these are people who have returned to private spaces. They see themselves in each other. They see each other, they have debates, they go for screening-debates.
So, basically, the link remains political, that is to say it is the place where we produce thought, counter-thought. But it does not always produce actions or it is not always structured in association. The fact of discussing together, of sharing, of realizing that these are collective trajectories, which are linked to a system which produces inequalities and that this system can be transformed… These are forms of awareness which have been very strong and which remain sustainable.
This means that I think that the “Yellow Vests” will not return to the public space in the same way, but I think that some of them have already returned to the public space, others manners and in a less unified manner. This is why it is less visible, as an effect of the Yellow Vest movement. But overall, it infuses individual and collective trajectories, especially on a local scale. »
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