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| Photo by Pascal Maga |
The Yellow Vests is a social movement of
austerity as Kerbo (1982) would classify it.
The 2008 financial crisis that hardly hit the Southern European states
and forced other states like the North and West Europe to bailout them out,
crippled countries like France, Belgium, the Netherlands both economically and
politically. In fact, if we pay closer
attention to Eurostat Reports about the Labour market we can see that a new
precarious class was formed with new characteristics. For example, the modern
precariat as they call it is made up of educated young people who find
themselves in situations of uncertainty as far as employment, standards of
living and income is concerned. This is
the class who indeed constitutes the soldiers fighting to reverse an outcome
formed by actions of the past and restore their will to the political scene.
However, how is this crusade organized? Is
there a master – mind behind it advancing his or her own interests and
presenting them as the interests of the people?
In general, the Yellow Vest groups are ones in a similar shape and
organization as the Occupy Movement and the Indignados in Spain and
Greece. Their actions are coordinated
through social media, they have no leading spokesperson and they encompass a
variety of demands. Evidence of this can
be found in the official Yellow Vest France Charter which outlines the group’s
demands and the official Yellow Vest website.
Demands range from political concessions like referendums to be included
in the constitution to social like end to police brutality, economic like
fairer taxation and a better immigration and assimilation policies (https://www.lelibrepenseur.org/la-charte-officielle-des-25-revendications-des-gilets-jaunes/ ; https://yellowvestscanada.net/index.html). Now, this can also act as an indication of
the different ideological groups represented in this new social movement who
are using his opportunity structure to possibly advance their own agendas.
The Yellow Vests movements especially in
France, Canada and Belgium where resistance and protesting was more dynamic due
to the country structure which allowed for it, were often criticized heavily by
the local and international press. This
does not mean that the existing governments did not receive any kind of
criticism as a response to the dealing of the situation, they did indeed. However, it is important to consider the fact
that especially the Yellow Vest France and the Yellow Vest Canada were under
scrutiny, not only by their governments and the press which possibly sided
against them but by the people themselves in social media. In fact, the people who did not like how the
Yellow Vests chose to pursue their agenda, even formed groups such as the
Foulard Rouge in France. Criticism
focused on the fact that the Yellow Vest movements were encompassing a lot of
right – wing extremism due to the fact that groups like Soldiers of Odin in
Canada and Rassemblement National in France were massively present in
demonstrations exhibiting anti – immigrant attitudes (https://jicw.org/index.php/jicw/article/view/819
). This is
particularly alarming as there have been claims that it is likely that right –
wing extremist groups are using the Yellow Vests demonstrations to appeal to
the people and potentially increase their electoral base. Certainly though, taking the example of
France, populist movements both from the left and from the right have been in
support of the movement and its demands.
Therefore, could it be possible that figures like Jean – Luc Melenchon
and Marine Le Pen have been using the movements popularity to promote their
agendas and increase their parties’ electoral base especially in a time of
political disengagement? And if yes what will happen next?
As often reported in the news the Yellow
Vest demonstrators have been steadily declining since the first big
demonstration of 17 November in France and by now the movement has been rather
quiet. Does that mean that we have seen
the end of it? In similar cases like the
Occupy Movement and the Indignados demonstrations, the movements died after a
while as participation fell but their demands were not erased, and it seems
like their agendas were inherited by later movements, like the Yellow Vests. So, if we follow the idea that history
repeats itself, then we can expect a new movement to adopt the Yellow Vest
agenda and bring it back to the surface again in the future. Or could this agenda be incorporated by left-
or right-wing populist who will use it to unite the people against the
establishment and get in government in countries like France and Canada?
Actions by the people like demonstration and active protests cannot change the
societal structure but they can introduce small changes that though seem
insignificant can in fact accumulate and create further opportunities for
change. This is a crucial task.
The Yellow Vest movement is a new type of
social movements. As seen in social
movement literature and particularly in Donatella della Porta’s research, there
is some kind of wave of anti – austerity protest groups all over Europe sharing
similar characteristics after the 2008 financial crisis. The Yellow Vest movement is understood as
another occasion of that. This is
crucial if we want to possibly predict the future of such a group as the
movement can essentially disappear. Are
the changes and concessions emerging from such movement going to last or are
they going to disappear as well? Is
there an agent who can potentially use the movements appeal for economic and
political benefits? This post claims
that there is a high possibility that populist movements both on the left – and
right – of the political spectrum have the capacity to do so. This can be a golden opportunity for them to
unite a seemingly disconnected political base and create a sense of unity that
can promote them and get the in government.
Fotini
Iacovou
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