Nuit debout

Nuit debout

Protestors occupy Paris's Place de la République, 10 April 2016
Date March 31, 2016 – ongoing
Location France and other countries
Goals Among others, withdrawal of proposed labor reforms
Methods

Nuit debout is a French social movement that began on March 31, 2016, arising out of protests against proposed labor reforms known as the "Loi Travail," or the "El Khomri Law".[1] It has been compared to the Occupy movement in the United States and to Spain's anti-austerity 15-M or Indignados movement.[2]

The movement is centered at Paris's Place de la République, where protestors have held nightly assemblies following the March 31 protest.[3] The movement has spread to dozens of other cities and towns in France as well as to neighbouring countries in Europe and to countries further afield.[4]

Name

The name "Nuit debout" has been translated into English as "Up All Night",[5] "Standing Night",[6] and "Rise up at night",[7] among other variants. Commentators have noted that the word debout has "significant resonance" in French political culture as it is the first word in the socialist anthem "The Internationale" ("Arise…!").[8]

Background

In 2011, in the wake of the Great Recession, several developed countries saw the rise of civil disobedience movements protesting against issues such as inequality and corporate greed.[9] In Spain, the 15-M or Indignados movement saw large-scale demonstrations and occupations of public squares; the movement led eventually to the rise of the anti-austerity political party Podemos.[1] The United States saw the rise of Occupy Wall Street, in which protestors occupied Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. In the wider Occupy movement, many major cities around the world saw similar protests. These movements inspired some protests in France at the time, such as an indignados-style protest at La Défense in November 2011.[10] However, these protests had a limited impact in the country before 2016.[11] The French commentator Pierre Haski explains:

The delayed reaction of the French youth has a lot to do with President François Hollande. In 2011 and 2012, when Occupy was the rallying cry of many cities, giving rise to political movements such as Podemos in Spain, the French were looking forward to electing a Socialist president instead of the highly unpopular Nicolas Sarkozy. Why occupy when the polls will do the job?[11]

Over time, many in France became disappointed with Hollande's government, believing that it had failed to deliver on its promises.[11] By early 2016, opinion polls said that four in five voters were opposed to Hollande running for re-election in 2017.[11][12]

One major source of public dissent arose when the government attempted to pass labor reforms that would make it easier for employers to fire workers.[13] The government's proposals, named after the Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri, led to a series of protests, which were driven primarily by youth organizations and unions.[13][14] The largest of these, on March 31, attracted 390,000 participants nationwide, according to the French authorities (unions put the figure at 1.2 million).[15] According to the Belgian sociologist Geoffrey Pleyers, these demonstrations gained traction not just because of the unpopularity of the proposed changes to the labor code, but because of widespread opposition to the government's policies generally:

What distinguishes social movements from mere protests is that they have a larger purpose, not one specific demand. From the first meetings of university and high school students on March 9, the El Khomri law served as an opportunity to express general indignation. In protest leaflets, students called for resistance “against government policy” rather than just this one bill. During marches, protesters expressed their disappointment with the political left in general and the ruling Socialist Party in particular.[1]

Origins

The Nuit debout movement has its origins at a meeting held in Paris on February 23, 2016 which was organized by François Ruffin, the founder of the left-wing journal Fakir and the director of the documentary film Merci patron!.[16] Ruffin stated that the aim of the meeting was to bring together a number of active protest groups, including people protesting against a proposed airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, factory workers protesting against the Goodyear tire company, and teachers protesting against education reforms.[17] A retired delivery driver who attended the meeting was quoted as saying, "There were about 300 or 400 of us at a public meeting in February and we were wondering how can we really scare the government?. We had an idea: at the next big street protest, we simply wouldn’t go home."[7] Those attending the meeting agreed that they would occupy Paris's Place de la République on 31 March 2016, following organized street protests that were scheduled to take place against a proposed labor reform known as the "El Khomri Law". The proposed law aimed at reducing unemployment by making France's labor market more flexible, allowing companies to lay off workers more easily.[18][16] The law would additionally loosen restrictions on working hours, including reducing overtime payments for hours worked beyond France's statutory 35-hour workweek.[19] It would also reduce severance payments that workers are entitled to if their company has made them redundant.[19]

The organizers of the occupation refused to set out a specific list of political demands in advance, although they did denounce the government's proposed reforms as regressive, and they called for the construction of a new political project that would be "ambitious, progressive, and emancipatory".[16] The economist Frédéric Lordon was invited to speak at the Place de la République on the evening of March 31. He delivered a speech in which he highlighted the goal of uniting disparate protest movements.[20]

Occupations

Place de la République, Paris

Following the initial night of occupation at the Place de la République, protesters continued to gather over the following days, defying a ban on mass demonstrations under the ongoing state of emergency declared by the government in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks.[21][22] Participants began gathering every night at 6 p.m. to conduct a popular assembly (assemblée générale), individuals taking turns to speak for two minutes at a time.[7][23] A system of hand gestures was established, with crowd members waving their fingers above their heads to indicate agreement, and crossing their wrists to indicate disagreement.[7]

Elsewhere in France

A popular assembly held at a Nuit debout gathering in Lyon, March 9, 2016

Over the first week the protests spread to over 30 cities across France.[6] The academic David Graeber, a leading figure in the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, said that the protests had spread much faster than those of 2011.[5] Explaining the spread of the protests, Graeber was quoted as saying, "There seems to be this sense of betrayal. [It’s] the fact that it is an ostensibly left-wing government that did the state of emergency, that did the labor law, that’s done a whole series of different things. These [the protestors] are the people that voted for them… [They] assumed that such a government would somehow speak for their concerns. They’re just really pissed off."[5]

During the first two weeks, assemblies took place mostly in city center locations, and some critics accused the movement of being predominantly white, bourgeois, and unrepresentative of the wider population.[24] In response to this concern, participants in Paris argued in favor of expanding the movement into the banlieues.[24] Several Nuit debout events were held in Paris suburbs such as Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen in mid-April, however these failed to attract local participants in large numbers.[25][26] An event organized in the northern parts of Marseille on April 23 likewise failed to greatly engage the local population.[27] Activists suggested that the movement's message, such as its opposition to changes to the labor code, had little traction in the area because many residents there were already unemployed, and because such areas had for decades been marginalized and ignored by wider society.[27]

Outside France

The movement quickly spread to neighbouring countries in Europe, with protests held in cities including Brussels,[7] Berlin, Lisbon, and Madrid.[28] On April 22, 2016, around 200 people gathered in Montreal, Canada to conduct a general assembly.[29] Participants discussed issues surrounding the environment, feminism, and indigenous people’s rights, as well as economic issues including the fight for a $15 minimum wage.[29][30]

Radio debout, TV debout, and alternative media channels

Protestors set up their own TV station, broadcasting over the internet from Paris's Place de la République

Protestors in the movement have declared themselves wary of mainstream media coverage, preferring to communicate via alternative channels.[31] In Paris's Place de la République, activists set up their own radio and TV stations, broadcasting over the internet.[32] The initial set-up for Radio debout involved a table, four chairs, three microphones, a mixing desk, two computers, and a 4G USB stick.[32] It was set up by individuals with a background working for France's national radio stations,[32] and streamed on the site Mixlr.[33]

TV debout, meanwhile, was set up with the intention of broadcasting the general assemblies taking places in the square, interspersed with interviews and analysis.[33] The interviews were initially conducted on a white sofa with a cardboard sign suspended in the background with the letters of "TV debout" cut out.[32] The channel was streamed over YouTube.[33]

Other channels of communication established by the movement include a newspaper titled 20 mille luttes, and various Facebook and Twitter accounts.[31] In addition, several people began live-streaming events over the smartphone app Periscope.[31] The most notable of these is Rémy Buisine, a 25-year-old online community manager whose stream attracted as many as 80,000 viewers simultaneously on the evening of April 3.[11][34] Buisine presents himself as independent of the movement, and as a neutral observer of events.[34][35]

Themes

While the initial street protests arose out of opposition to the El Kohmri labor reforms, the Nuit debout movement itself coalesced from the beginning around a much broader set of themes.[9][36] Among recurring themes of discussion are: calls for a universal basic income;[37] opposition to labor arrangements which place workers in competition with one another, as enshrined in trade treaties such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership;[37] amnesty for undocumented migrants and solidarity with refugees;[38] and feminist issues including the gender pay gap and the safety of sex workers.[37]

Some within the movement have called for a general strike along the lines of previous major strikes in France, in 1936 and in May 1968, with the aim of forcing the withdrawal of the El Khomri law.[39] Frédéric Lordon has argued that the movement should seek to rewrite the French constitution, abolishing private ownership of the means of production as enshrined in the existing constitution, and granting ownership instead to those who derive use value from capital.[40] A discussion group was set up in the Place de la République on the question of what should be included in such a rewritten constitution; some suggested that government should be selected by sortition, or that elected officials should be subject to recall by voters.[41]

As with the French Revolution, the movement rewrote the calendar: all dates following the March 31 protest were renamed as a continuation of the month of March. April 7, for example, is 38 mars, or March 38.[42]

Reactions

Public opinion

The movement received broad public support, with polls showing that a majority of the French public held a favourable view towards it. A survey conducted by the polling agency Odoxa on behalf of the television news channel i-Télé, and published on April 9, 2016, found that 71% of respondents had heard of the movement, and that 60% supported it.[43] An Ifop poll of 18–25-year-olds, published by Metronews on April 13, indicated that 61% of this age group supported the movement, and that 47% declared themselves willing to participate in it.[44]

Politicians' reactions

During its first month, the movement received support from politicians on the left of the political spectrum, while being condemned by parties on the right.[45] The governing left-of-center Socialist Party broadly called for the movement to be tolerated.[45]

The occupation of the Place de la République in particular was criticized by politicians from France's two main parties.[46] Valérie Pécresse, the Republican President of the Île-de-France region, declared that the square should either be evacuated, or that the protestors should police the square themselves.[46] Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist Mayor of Paris, expressed her sympathy for the movement but warned the protestors against occupying the square during the daytime, saying that the square was a public space and that it should be available for the use of all members of the public.[47][48]

On the morning of Monday April 11, the twelfth day of the protests, police evacuated the square, removing temporary structures that protestors had built, though protestors were given permission to return the same evening.[49] On the same day, Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls met with the country's student leaders, offering concessions on the proposed labor reforms in an effort to defuse the protests, saying, "The government is listening. It understands the youths' worries."[50] The concessions included between €400 million and €500 million in aid for job seekers and other state support.[50][51]

In a televised interview broadcast on April 14, 2016, President François Hollande vowed to press ahead with the proposed labor reforms.[52] During the interview, Hollande said of the movement, "I find it legitimate that the youth - in relation to the world as it is, in relation to politics as they are - want to express themselves and want to have their say."[52] The interview was screened live on a giant screen in the Place de la République.[53] Following the interview, a group of protesters (300, according to the police) left the square in the direction of the Élysée Palace, the president's official residence.[53] The protestors were diverted by the police and eventually dispersed.[53] Several banks, commercial premises, and vehicles were vandalized, and there were some violent clashes between protestors and security forces.[53] In the days following these events, the movement failed to adopt a collective position distancing itself from these actions.[54] A substantial majority of participants at the Place de la République, however, declared themselves opposed to violent protest.[54]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pleyers, Geoffrey (April 14, 2016). "Are France’s #NuitDebout protests the start of a new political movement?". The Conversation. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  2. ↑ Kamdar, Mira (April 14, 2016). "In Paris, a Protest Movement Awakens". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ Nossiter, Adam (April 29, 2016). "A New Generation’s Anger Resounds From a Packed Plaza in Paris". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Du 30 au 60 mars : un mois de «Nuit debout»". Libération (in French). Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Lowe, Josh (April 11, 2016). "What is France's 'Nuit Debout' protest movement?". Newsweek. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Wheeler, Alex (April 7, 2016). "A French Spring? Nuit Debout steps up its occupation protests across France". International Business Times. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Chrisafis, Angelique (8 April 2016). "Nuit debout protesters occupy French cities in revolutionary call for change". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Brand, Michèle; Gupta, Arun (May 3, 2016). "What is the “Nuit Debout”?". CounterPunch. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Pleyers, Geoffrey (April 8, 2016). "« Nuit Debout » : citizens are back in the squares in Paris". Open Democracy. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  10. ↑ Hopquin, Benoît (November 7, 2011). "Sale temps pour les "indignés" de la Défense". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Haski, Pierre (April 13, 2016). "Nuit debout protests are confirmation that France’s political system is broken". The Guardian. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Quatre Français sur cinq ne veulent pas que François Hollande se représente en 2017" (in French). France 24. April 10, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  13. 1 2 "France unions and youths protest against labour reforms". BBC News. March 9, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Loi travail : les chiffres des manifestations". Challenges. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "Près de 390 000 personnes ont manifesté contre la loi travail, selon les autorités". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  16. 1 2 3 Besse Desmoulières, Raphaëlle (6 April 2016). "Nuit debout, histoire d’un ovni politique". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  17. ↑ Bastié, Eugénie (7 April 2016). "Nuit debout : genèse d'un mouvement pas si spontané". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "Online petition against French labour reform hits million-signature record". France 24. March 5, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  19. 1 2 Birch, Jonah (April 28, 2016). "A French Spring". Jacobin. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  20. ↑ Schneidermann, Daniel (April 3, 2016). "Frédéric Lordon à la République, mine de rien". Libération (in French). Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  21. ↑ Chassany, Anne-Sylvaine (April 22, 2016). "France’s latest protest party lasts all night". Financial Times. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  22. ↑ Satter, Raphael (April 7, 2016). "Paris' Occupy-style protesters carry warning for French left". Associated Press. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  23. ↑ Jones, Matthew (April 11, 2016). "The 'Nuit debout' protests could spawn a Podemos for France - but that's not what demonstrators want". The Independent. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  24. 1 2 Camus, Elvire (April 13, 2016). "« Il faut amener la Nuit debout dans les banlieues et non l’inverse »". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  25. ↑ Zappi, Sylvia; Camus, Elvire. "Le mouvement Nuit debout peine à s’étendre en banlieue". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Les tentatives de Nuit debout en banlieue se multiplient mais peinent à mobiliser les quartiers". Libération (in French). AFP. April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  27. 1 2 Rof, Gilles (April 24, 2016). "A Marseille, Nuit debout se heurte durement à la réalité des quartiers nord". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  28. ↑ Grodira, Fermín (April 8, 2016). "La Nuit Debout se expande a Europa". Público (in Spanish). Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  29. 1 2 "Montreal tries on 'Up All Night'". The Express Tribune. AFP. April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  30. 1 2 3 Reynaud, Florian (April 20, 2016). "Nuit debout ne sait pas sur quel pied communiquer". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  31. 1 2 3 4 Halissat, Ismaël (April 10, 2016). "Nuit debout sur les ondes". Libération (in French). Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  32. 1 2 3 Quentel, Amélie (April 20, 2016). "Comment les médias de “Nuit debout” font entendre leur voix". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  33. 1 2 Piquard, Alexandre (April 4, 2016). "#NuitDebout : derrière le live, un community manager « pas militant »". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  34. ↑ Lambert, Elise (April 11, 2016). "Qui est Rémy Buisine, le "périscopeur" de Nuit debout ?" (in French). France Télévisions. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  35. ↑ Rockhill, Gabriel (April 15, 2016). "Revolution Never Sleeps: Nuit Debout in France and Beyond". CounterPunch. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  36. 1 2 3 Peillon, Luc; Peyret, Emmanuèle; Ballet, Virginie; Cailhol, Amandine (April 15, 2016). "Ce que retient la nuit". Libération (in French). Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  37. ↑ Mouillard, Sylvain; Cailhol, Amandine (April 6, 2016). "Nuit debout trouve son assise". Libération (in French). Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  38. ↑ Villechenon, Anna (April 15, 2016). "Nuit debout : la grève générale en débat". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Nuit Debout. Frédéric Lordon : "Pour en finir avec l'empire du capital..."". L'Obs (in French). April 16, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  40. ↑ Soucheyre, Aurélien (April 14, 2016). "Nuit Debout. Réécrire la Constitution, par tous et pour tous". L'Humanité (in French). Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  41. ↑ Schneidermann, Daniel (April 4, 2016). "34 mars : le drôle de calendrier de #NuitDebout". L'Obs (in French). Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  42. ↑ "60% des Français soutiennent le mouvement "Nuit Debout"" (in French). i-Télé. April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  43. ↑ Michelon, Vincent (April 13, 2016). "SONDAGE EXCLUSIF - Un nouveau Mai-68 en France ? La jeunesse y pense". Metronews (in French). Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  44. 1 2 "Depuis un mois, gauche et droite se divisent sur Nuit debout". Le Monde (in French). April 29, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  45. 1 2 Lamort, Edouard (April 11, 2016). "Les anti Nuit Debout donnent (aussi) de la voix". L'Obs (in French). Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  46. ↑ Jérôme, Béatrice (April 11, 2016). "L’avertissement d’Anne Hidalgo à la Nuit debout". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  47. ↑ Holman, Rachel (April 12, 2016). "French ‘occupy’ protests in Paris ‘a pain in the neck'". France 24. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  48. ↑ Lichfield, John (April 11, 2016). "Police remove Nuit Debout protesters but the 'revolution' is set to continue". The Independent. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  49. 1 2 "France announces aid to youths to defuse 'Up All Night' tensions". Reuters. April 11, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  50. ↑ "France student protests: PM Valls offers jobseeker aid". BBC News. April 11, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  51. 1 2 "France vows crackdown on any violence at La Nuit Debout protests". Deutsche Welle. April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  52. 1 2 3 4 Vilars, Timothée (April 15, 2016). "Echauffourées à Paris après l'émission de François Hollande". L'Obs (in French). Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  53. 1 2 "Condamner ou ne rien dire? "Nuit Debout" confronté à la question de la violence". L'Express (in French). April 17, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nuit debout.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.