News

A frustrated French public defies Macron. But do protests matter?

French demonstrators had already been protesting an unpopular retirement reform bill when, two weeks ago, French President Emmanuel Macron’s government controversially sidestepped Parliament and enacted the bill without a vote.

That has only fueled the protests to continue, with a 10th one today in cities across France. While some people are calling for a total upheaval of the government and France’s Fifth Republic, many simply want the pension reform bill dropped.

Why We Wrote This

Protests against President Macron’s retirement reforms have inflamed France. Yet in a country where demonstrating is practically de rigueur, how much difference does marching really make in a situation like this?

But there are growing questions about the protest movement’s effectiveness. Mr. Macron has shown no signs of wanting to compromise. And if the French are always demonstrating, it is unclear what it will take to move the government. In a country where voicing dissent is the rule, not the exception, do protests still matter?

“The question many protesters are going to ask themselves without a doubt is, what is the point?” says political scientist Vincent Tournier. “Protests are not going to disappear, because they respond to an old tradition that has been almost ritualized. … On the other hand, its global effectiveness remains limited, and this is the problem for protesters. They don’t have the means to disrupt the country in a profound way unless they launch a long-lasting general strike. But are they ready to go that far?”

At the Place de la Bastille, young people have jumped onto the monumental turquoise pillar, setting off colorful smoke bombs. Reggae music blares out of trade union truck speakers, and a Brazilian drumming group has everyone dancing.

It’s not exactly 1789 and the storming of the Bastille, but it is apropos. After all, it was here that the French revolution began.

“We think and we hope that these protests will do something,” says Linda Blanchard, a psychiatric nurse who is only a few years from retiring, and is one of the more than 1 million nationwide expressing their discontent with President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform bill. “We’re not revolutionaries, we don’t want to destroy everything. We just think everyone should be allowed a decent living.”

Why We Wrote This

Protests against President Macron’s retirement reforms have inflamed France. Yet in a country where demonstrating is practically de rigueur, how much difference does marching really make in a situation like this?

Two weeks ago, Mr. Macron’s government sidestepped Parliament and enacted the bill – which increases the retirement age from 62 to 64 – without a vote, using a special constitutional maneuver. That has motivated demonstrators to continue their protests, with a 10th one today in cities across France. Though they have been largely peaceful, some protesters have set fire to garbage cans and bicycles, and smashed storefronts.

While some French people are calling for a total upheaval of the government and France’s Fifth Republic, many simply want the pension reform bill dropped. Regardless, one thing is clear: The French want change.

Previous ArticleNext Article