Demonstrators opposed to the pension reform again took part in nocturnal and undeclared rallies on Wednesday evening in several cities in France. Franceinfo followed them in the streets of Paris.
Since the use of 49.3 to have the text of the pension reform adopted, Thursday March 16, spontaneous demonstrations have followed one another, in Paris and all over France. Who are these night protesters? There is a multitude of profiles among the demonstrators crossed in the capital, Wednesday evening, but in general, we meet rather young urban leftists, aged 25 on average and sometimes even much less. Raphaël, Charlotte or Zélie, for example, are barely 16 or 17 years old. Minors, they nevertheless participated in the very first nocturnal demonstration, last week on the Place de la Concorde. They were also Tuesday evening at Vauban, Wednesday at République. High school students during the day, demonstrators at night… Result, for these first year students: “Really, everyone falls asleep in class”, notes Charlotte. “To follow the demonstrations, the strikes, the courses, it’s really complicated. But you have to mobilize. It’s now or never”she adds.
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High school students are not the majority in these nocturnal demonstrations. We also met student lawyers, a maths teacher, a screenwriter, a computer security consultant. Sosthène and his friend Léo are 28 years old. They have participated in no less than three nightly protests this week. “There is definitely more atmosphere. People sing much louder”notes Sosthene. “These are demonstrations that become spontaneous, with calls sometimes the same day that are always followed”explains Leo.
“It’s less strong in terms of image than huge processions, that’s for sure, but I think it’s super strong in terms of motivation and communication.”
Leo, a night protesterat franceinfo
“It’s nice to have these demonstrations on one side and the big union movements on the other at the same time”, concludes Leo. It is above all a way of never releasing the pressure. Some believe that after demonstrating “in the rules of art”during the last six inter-union processions, it is time to move on to another method.
“Everything is done a bit hastily, but it works!”
In the north, east and south of Paris, the demonstrators are everywhere, every time, very mobile. It’s hard to know how the participants keep track of where to demonstrate, they like to maintain a bit of secrecy. “In 10 minutes, I’ll be at Étienne-Marcel, in 15 minutes, I’ll be somewhere else”, launches one of them, cheekily. In fact, information circulates quickly on social networks, especially on the accounts Paris Fights Info or Brains not available. Here are some sample tweets: “The wild demonstration of Châtelet is dispersed by the cops on motorcycles. It challenges Répu.” “Be careful! Groups of four or five cops are running around the neighborhood, in Ledru-Rollin and making arrests.” “The savage on the Faubourg Saint-Antoine has burned everything down. The cops are dropped.” Messages that Marina consults, near the Place de la République, her eyes glued to her phone, “every evening”she says. “I came home quickly to take a shower, but otherwise overall, I was there. Everything is done a bit hastily, but it works! The CRS run with their 20-kilogram shell and it’s a lot of fun”she adds, a bit mockingly.
It’s also word of mouth that works. For example, on Wednesday evening, during the tensions on the Place de la République, while hundreds of people fled the tear gas canisters of the police, some crossed paths in groups of four or five in the neighboring streets and passed messages found on the internet to each other. . “It seems that the next gathering will be at Hôtel de Ville”, loose a student who saw a message on Twitter. Finally, not much on the spot, but on the way, he crosses the procession which managed to form towards Châtelet. And it’s like that every night. We thus get lost in the streets of Paris, from right to left, in search of a group which is forming, of a barricade which holds, like the police, which runs after these disorganized but determined demonstrators.
A classic form of mobilization
This form of mobilization is directly inspired by Hong Kongers, as the demonstrators claim themselves using the slogan “Be water” (to be like water), fluid and unpredictable. That was the watchword of protests in Hong Kong against a law allowing extraditions to China in 2019. “It refers to the expression ‘we are ungovernable’translates Sylvain Boulouque, historian of social movements. For example, the multiplication of fire sites so that the police no longer know where to turn.
“The idea is to make ourselves ungovernable and that the street is no longer controllable.”
Sylvain Boulouque, historian of social movementsat franceinfo
From there to speak of a new form of mobilization, “No”refutes Sylvain Boulouque. “It’s a classic form. It’s just that there, with social networks, it seems that there are a lot more, but it has always existed. In 1986, there were lots of demonstrations night. This is one of the reasons why Malik Oussekine died. There was a night demonstration, the ‘voltigeurs’ chased him taking him for a demonstrator when he was not”. These demonstrations can also be reminiscent of May-68, which also began in the middle of March (the 22nd to be exact), just 55 years ago.