he masses” have “no legitimacy in the face of those who express themselves through elected officials,” French president Emmanuel Macron told members of Parliament on 21 March 2023, days after he forced through his pension reform and then narrowly survived a no-confidence vote amid ongoing nationwide protests. In a televised interview the following day, Macron attempted damage control. “Labor unions have legitimacy,” he clarified. “When they protest because they are opposed to this reform, I respect them. They’re defending their point of view, and besides, it’s protected by the constitution.” But “when groups use extreme violence…when they use violence without rules because they’re unhappy with something, well, that’s no longer a republic.”
Since Macron pushed his reform through on 16 March 2023, there has been an increase in violence at the protests and a breakdown in dialogue between the government and labor unions. Macron claims he’s doing what’s best and that violence is antidemocratic, yet there is overwhelming support for the protests across France. As of March 27, 70% of the French population supports the massive protests. France’s confidence in Macron has reached its lowest level since February 2020, primarily because of the government’s disregard for citizens’ preferences.
Protest was once an indisputably democratic and effective political tool, but Macron’s rhetoric and the changing nature of protest have called the legitimacy of protest, and now the government, into question.
The Project Against Protest
Protest has been embedded in French political culture since the French Revolution, but it has become far less effective over the last fifty years. This can be attributed to dampened support for unions and strikes on the labor-side and a deliberate policy choice by the government. Macron’s hardline rhetoric is strategic and reflects an evolution of protest culture in France.
Eric Agrikoliansky, a political scientist at Paris Dauphine University and an expert on social movements in France, explained: Through the 19th and much of the 20th century, protests were always accompanied by strikes that paralyzed the economy and pushed politicians to respond. In the 1970s however, striking lost much of its value and “protest became the principal weapon against legislation,” he said.
“Until the end of Jacques Chirac’s presidency in 2007, the French government carefully measured the political risk of an unhappy portion of the population.” But when Chirac’s successor Nicolas Sarkozy took office, the Élysée’s logic changed. Sarkozy weakened protesters’ power, making it mandatory to declare a strike several days in advance and for sectors on strike to maintain a minimum level of service.
Sarkozy, François Hollande, and now Macron have insisted that “the street will not govern.” Paired with a steep decline in union membership across the country, protesters have had to find new ways to be heard by the government. People will occupy public spaces, like potential airports and roundabouts, and “we are witnessing more violence. There is this idea that without it, nothing will change,” Agrikoliansky said. Even still, “the vast majority of protesters are non-violent and unions do their best to keep things from getting out of hand,” he quickly added.
Black Blocs and Brav-M, Built for Destruction
There has been a noticeable increase in violence at French protests in the last few years, due to changing strategies among law enforcement officers and protesters. In 2020, Le Monde’s editorial board warned its readers of the normalization of burning cars and vandalizing storefronts. “The protests of the 1990s and 2000s often ended in violence. But clashes with the police became systematic, even central, during the protests against the Labor Law (2016), and then during the Gilets Jaunes movement (2018-2019),” they wrote.
As Le Monde noted, the violence stems from clashes between law enforcement and civilians. Nevertheless, Macron’s response now, as it did during the Gilets Jaunes movement, emphasizes the violence committed by protesters. In one of his Grand Débats (Great Debates)—an attempt to bridge the divide between the national government and local communities during the Gilets Jaunes movement—the president denounced certain protesters that “infiltrated and corrupted” the demonstrations. Some “have destroyed, threatened, hit law enforcement officers. That is, the people who defend you on a daily basis,” he told the audience. “Don't talk about repression, police violence. These words are unacceptable in a state of law.”
Some of the violence at protests can be linked to “Black Blocs,” people dressed in black that come to protests with the intention to destroy capitalist symbols. But journalists and NGOs reported hundreds of cases of arbitrary arrests and extreme use of force by police officers during the Gilets Jaunes movement, too. In just the first month of Gilets Jaunes mobilization, 1,407 protesters were injured as compared to 717 law enforcement officers. By the time the movement fizzled out, these figures had jumped to 2,448 and 1,797, respectively. Of the 2,907 arrested protesters, 1,304 were released without charge.
The pension reform protests, which started on 18 January 2023, only turned violent after Macron pushed his reform through on 16 March 2023. Police have confirmed that their tactics changed after Macron’s reform was adopted. A member of the national police force told the French digital investigative newspaper Mediapart that the police have become more reactive. “As soon as we spot [spontaneous protests], we don’t wait, we intervene.” If “simple demonstrators” with a “just cause” “stay in our way, there is no distinction. There is a chance there will be collateral damage.”
A motorcycle police unit called the Brav-M now monitors the protests, too. The police officer told Mediapart he’s afraid for the protesters. "Not only are [the Brav-M] meant to intervene very quickly on motorcycles, which can be terrifying, but the police department has direct control over them.” Unlike the Brav-M, the national police receive orders from a commander in the field that can easily adapt to changing conditions. On 5 April 2023, the National Assembly dismissed a petition to dissolve the Brav-M.
Macron’s Lies
By placing the blame of violence on protesters, Macron attempts to sway public opinion in favor of his governments’ strong leadership and dissuade future demonstrations.
For instance, in his 21 March 2023 interview Macron attempted to link the current protests to the 6 January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying “we respect, we listen, but we cannot accept insurrectionists.”
According to Agrikoliansky, “this comparison makes no sense. It's false and misleading. We cannot compare these protesters that are in large part non-violent and using legal means of protest to the Trump supporters in the U.S. that attempted to invade democratic institutions to contest—against all evidence—an election. These groups neither resorted to the same methods nor had the same objectives.”
Sabine Gies, head of the Alsacian division of the CFDT (France’s largest labor union), agrees. “There are individuals with the explicit intention to cause chaos at protests, but they are not a part of the unions or even concerned with the pension reforms. And while it's normal for the police to respond to violence, their goal should be to decrease the tension. Same with the government. Instead, they add fuel to the fire.”
“The media amplifies the problem,” she noted. “We only hear about the violence, never the large numbers of peaceful protesters. In the end, Macron profits from it all. He and his ministers are constantly trying to place the blame on others, and I’m constantly fighting against generalizations.”
According to Gies, it’s not just Macron’s rhetoric about violence that is problematic. “Since the beginning, the unions have attempted dialogue but Macron and his ministers have been unwilling to negotiate. They’ll invite us to discuss anything and everything but the key issue of raising the retirement age. That’s what they did before March 16, and that’s what the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne did in her most recent talk with the unions.”
“We’ve reached a point where they have no choice but to lie. Macron said protests continue because the unions have not proposed solutions. This is entirely false,” she said.
Gies believes the lack of dialogue is a symptom of France’s “sick democracy.” “France still has strong institutions, but the people’s relationship to them is weakening.”
Macron defends his decisions with a paternalistic tone and uses generalizations to delegitimize protesters. The pension protests are not only a response to his policy, but an effort by the people to demand respect.
Diplomatic Courier requested an interview with Macron’s government but received no response. Diplomatic Courier also reached out to the Police Department in Paris for statistics on incidents of violence at the pension protests. The Police Department responded but did not provide statistics.
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Macron’s Mission to Delegitimize Protesters
Photo by Sébastien Ramage on Unsplash
April 13, 2023
France continues to experience nationwide demonstrations in protest of proposed pension reforms. Rather than treat demonstrations as part of the democratic process, French president Macron has sought to deligitimize protest movements with untruths even amid police violence, writes Millie Brigaud.
T
he masses” have “no legitimacy in the face of those who express themselves through elected officials,” French president Emmanuel Macron told members of Parliament on 21 March 2023, days after he forced through his pension reform and then narrowly survived a no-confidence vote amid ongoing nationwide protests. In a televised interview the following day, Macron attempted damage control. “Labor unions have legitimacy,” he clarified. “When they protest because they are opposed to this reform, I respect them. They’re defending their point of view, and besides, it’s protected by the constitution.” But “when groups use extreme violence…when they use violence without rules because they’re unhappy with something, well, that’s no longer a republic.”
Since Macron pushed his reform through on 16 March 2023, there has been an increase in violence at the protests and a breakdown in dialogue between the government and labor unions. Macron claims he’s doing what’s best and that violence is antidemocratic, yet there is overwhelming support for the protests across France. As of March 27, 70% of the French population supports the massive protests. France’s confidence in Macron has reached its lowest level since February 2020, primarily because of the government’s disregard for citizens’ preferences.
Protest was once an indisputably democratic and effective political tool, but Macron’s rhetoric and the changing nature of protest have called the legitimacy of protest, and now the government, into question.
The Project Against Protest
Protest has been embedded in French political culture since the French Revolution, but it has become far less effective over the last fifty years. This can be attributed to dampened support for unions and strikes on the labor-side and a deliberate policy choice by the government. Macron’s hardline rhetoric is strategic and reflects an evolution of protest culture in France.
Eric Agrikoliansky, a political scientist at Paris Dauphine University and an expert on social movements in France, explained: Through the 19th and much of the 20th century, protests were always accompanied by strikes that paralyzed the economy and pushed politicians to respond. In the 1970s however, striking lost much of its value and “protest became the principal weapon against legislation,” he said.
“Until the end of Jacques Chirac’s presidency in 2007, the French government carefully measured the political risk of an unhappy portion of the population.” But when Chirac’s successor Nicolas Sarkozy took office, the Élysée’s logic changed. Sarkozy weakened protesters’ power, making it mandatory to declare a strike several days in advance and for sectors on strike to maintain a minimum level of service.
Sarkozy, François Hollande, and now Macron have insisted that “the street will not govern.” Paired with a steep decline in union membership across the country, protesters have had to find new ways to be heard by the government. People will occupy public spaces, like potential airports and roundabouts, and “we are witnessing more violence. There is this idea that without it, nothing will change,” Agrikoliansky said. Even still, “the vast majority of protesters are non-violent and unions do their best to keep things from getting out of hand,” he quickly added.
Black Blocs and Brav-M, Built for Destruction
There has been a noticeable increase in violence at French protests in the last few years, due to changing strategies among law enforcement officers and protesters. In 2020, Le Monde’s editorial board warned its readers of the normalization of burning cars and vandalizing storefronts. “The protests of the 1990s and 2000s often ended in violence. But clashes with the police became systematic, even central, during the protests against the Labor Law (2016), and then during the Gilets Jaunes movement (2018-2019),” they wrote.
As Le Monde noted, the violence stems from clashes between law enforcement and civilians. Nevertheless, Macron’s response now, as it did during the Gilets Jaunes movement, emphasizes the violence committed by protesters. In one of his Grand Débats (Great Debates)—an attempt to bridge the divide between the national government and local communities during the Gilets Jaunes movement—the president denounced certain protesters that “infiltrated and corrupted” the demonstrations. Some “have destroyed, threatened, hit law enforcement officers. That is, the people who defend you on a daily basis,” he told the audience. “Don't talk about repression, police violence. These words are unacceptable in a state of law.”
Some of the violence at protests can be linked to “Black Blocs,” people dressed in black that come to protests with the intention to destroy capitalist symbols. But journalists and NGOs reported hundreds of cases of arbitrary arrests and extreme use of force by police officers during the Gilets Jaunes movement, too. In just the first month of Gilets Jaunes mobilization, 1,407 protesters were injured as compared to 717 law enforcement officers. By the time the movement fizzled out, these figures had jumped to 2,448 and 1,797, respectively. Of the 2,907 arrested protesters, 1,304 were released without charge.
The pension reform protests, which started on 18 January 2023, only turned violent after Macron pushed his reform through on 16 March 2023. Police have confirmed that their tactics changed after Macron’s reform was adopted. A member of the national police force told the French digital investigative newspaper Mediapart that the police have become more reactive. “As soon as we spot [spontaneous protests], we don’t wait, we intervene.” If “simple demonstrators” with a “just cause” “stay in our way, there is no distinction. There is a chance there will be collateral damage.”
A motorcycle police unit called the Brav-M now monitors the protests, too. The police officer told Mediapart he’s afraid for the protesters. "Not only are [the Brav-M] meant to intervene very quickly on motorcycles, which can be terrifying, but the police department has direct control over them.” Unlike the Brav-M, the national police receive orders from a commander in the field that can easily adapt to changing conditions. On 5 April 2023, the National Assembly dismissed a petition to dissolve the Brav-M.
Macron’s Lies
By placing the blame of violence on protesters, Macron attempts to sway public opinion in favor of his governments’ strong leadership and dissuade future demonstrations.
For instance, in his 21 March 2023 interview Macron attempted to link the current protests to the 6 January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying “we respect, we listen, but we cannot accept insurrectionists.”
According to Agrikoliansky, “this comparison makes no sense. It's false and misleading. We cannot compare these protesters that are in large part non-violent and using legal means of protest to the Trump supporters in the U.S. that attempted to invade democratic institutions to contest—against all evidence—an election. These groups neither resorted to the same methods nor had the same objectives.”
Sabine Gies, head of the Alsacian division of the CFDT (France’s largest labor union), agrees. “There are individuals with the explicit intention to cause chaos at protests, but they are not a part of the unions or even concerned with the pension reforms. And while it's normal for the police to respond to violence, their goal should be to decrease the tension. Same with the government. Instead, they add fuel to the fire.”
“The media amplifies the problem,” she noted. “We only hear about the violence, never the large numbers of peaceful protesters. In the end, Macron profits from it all. He and his ministers are constantly trying to place the blame on others, and I’m constantly fighting against generalizations.”
According to Gies, it’s not just Macron’s rhetoric about violence that is problematic. “Since the beginning, the unions have attempted dialogue but Macron and his ministers have been unwilling to negotiate. They’ll invite us to discuss anything and everything but the key issue of raising the retirement age. That’s what they did before March 16, and that’s what the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne did in her most recent talk with the unions.”
“We’ve reached a point where they have no choice but to lie. Macron said protests continue because the unions have not proposed solutions. This is entirely false,” she said.
Gies believes the lack of dialogue is a symptom of France’s “sick democracy.” “France still has strong institutions, but the people’s relationship to them is weakening.”
Macron defends his decisions with a paternalistic tone and uses generalizations to delegitimize protesters. The pension protests are not only a response to his policy, but an effort by the people to demand respect.
Diplomatic Courier requested an interview with Macron’s government but received no response. Diplomatic Courier also reached out to the Police Department in Paris for statistics on incidents of violence at the pension protests. The Police Department responded but did not provide statistics.
