The blame game

France has always been synonymous with public protest. When I lived and studied in France, I was no stranger to strikes or weekly marches through the town centre. In my sociology class, I learned about the gilets jaunes (yellow vests), a grassroots movement that protested the Macron government between 2018 and 2020. One of my classmates told me that the gilets jaunes hadn’t achieved much in the long run, but their legacy was a unified France — albeit fleetingly. For a moment in time, people from all different backgrounds and political persuasions bonded over their shared frustrations.

The echoes of the gilets jaunes — as well as their forefathers in May '68 — are heard in the protests surging through France today: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Watching the protests unfold back home in Australia, I noticed that a handful of conservative commentators were portraying the violent demonstrations in terms of immigration and the young protesters themselves, not the frustrations with socioeconomic inequality and retaliation against state force.

It is easy to pass blame on teenagers, rather than the state. In The Australian, Driss Ghali asks: why don’t these kids want to work anymore? “Around the barricades and blockades, immigrants and white French teenagers are rising up together,” he writes. “Against reality, work and excellence. Two forms of decadence and entitlement are singing in unison.” Ghali argues that they have been squandering ample state handouts, or casting them aside and asking for even more: he derides the protesters’ calls for free tertiary education, something that Australia had itself in 1974.

Advocacy strategist Parnell Palme McGuinness concurs. In her opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald, she writes: “They are permanent children throwing a tantrum because the pocket-money raise didn’t come through.” In McGuinness’ and Ghali’s view, these protesters are the entitled grandchildren of the May ‘68 generation who reject the supposed generosity of the state because they want to make their own way. McGuinness also points fingers at “immigration” as “another of Europe’s failures.”

The Australian business columnist Robert Gottliebsen concedes that poor quality of education and cost of living are factors but theorises that the root cause is mass unemployment among youths. “When you have a large mass of young people unable to get work or income, you create a very dangerous cocktail,” says Gottliebsen. “The young people are not protesting about their plight. Instead, they are being mobilised by people with other agendas led by Marxists and those fostering antisemitism.”

Meanwhile, French social media paints a different picture. Writer and YouTuber Alice Cappelle, whose video essays on feminist theory and social justice often bridge the gap between Francophone and Anglophone politics, expressed frustration with Macron’s inability to address any of the issues brought forth by the protesters as he instead called for further restrictive measures and de-escalation. Additionally, anti-far right toilet humour protest signs have gone viral on French news outlets: On fait caca sur Bardella; On fait pipi sur les Nazis; On fait popo sur les fachos. Comments underneath joke about how these slogans have been stuck in their heads all day or lament that the protesters are being blamed for state violence. The demonstrations sweeping France may be snowballing out of state control, but so is frustration with systemic inequality.

Moreover, Radio France, the national public broadcaster, also recently aired a segment asking where young protesters' anger came from. The report echoed the same sentiments of the youth: frustration with the education system and dissatisfaction with France's social structure. "Equal access to common rights throughout the country does not exist in practice," said episode guest Fabien Truong. France Info, a French news outlet and radio station, also depicted young protesters in a more sympathetic light detailing the "degrading treatment" of minors in custody and describing one 17-year-old boy who was forced to sleep in a cell with seven other minors and only one mattress. Similarly, another report included an 18-year-old who explained: “Young people in particular want to make themselves heard to the president. We are always waiting for a response. [Macron] speaks, but he always says the same things every day.”

When violence and political dissent occur on such a large scale, news outlets and people online will always clamour to identify the root cause. But when commentators offer up their side of the story, it's important to distinguish opinion from fact, or innocent protesters will get caught in the crossfire.

References 
 
The Australian. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/frances-student-revolt-is-a-rebellion-against-reality/news-story/45ec16da47f27c09ff9e3f4545c1aa70  

The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/rioters-in-france-rip-up-their-streets-because-they-can-t-tackle-the-real-cause-of-their-anger-20261025-p617w5.html  

The Australian. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/rising-youth-unemployment-threatens-to-trigger-frenchstyle-street-unrest-across-australia/news-story/1f356a41ef3f0653d58d381737977791 

 @alicecappelle_ on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dep1QsTCMF7/?obrf=MW9lOXRyYW54c3JpNw%3D%3D  

L’echo via @divineintheordinary on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfCbmM8urjK/?psln=bnBiaG0ydXhtYXlw  

Radio France. https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/l-invite-e-des-matins/blocus-des-lycees-d-ou-vient-la-colere-3986215 

 France Info. https://www.franceinfo.fr/societe/mobilisation-du-17-octobre/manifestations-du-17-octobre-des-commissariats-satures-a-paris-des-avocats-critiquent-des-traitements-degradants-en-garde-a-vue_8243605.html  

France Info. https://www.franceinfo.fr/societe/mobilisation-du-17-octobre/reportage-on-n-a-jamais-vu-ca-c-est-catastrophique-a-paris-une-nouvelle-soiree-de-violences-et-des-habitants-excedes_8243512.html