Kaitlyn Hughes | editor-in-chief

As someone who grew up visiting his family in France, Rayane Elyasti empathized with the protestors who took to the streets in France over the last several weeks.

“I stand with the Gen Z protesters,” said the senior cyber security and data science major at Duquesne University. “They’re asking for stuff that’s been an issue for a while and nobody really cared about it.”

Protesters have taken to the streets each week since September about a slew of issues occurring in France from poor conditions in schools to cost of living struggles for the population.

Schools in France are consistently understaffed and the students have to attend class in “dilapidated” buildings, according to Elyasti.

The university admissions system in France, Parcoursup, takes a “huge toll” on students because they go through “rigorous” exams, Elyasti said.

School days are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in France and classes contain about 30 students, according to Flore Marion, who grew up in France and now resides in Pittsburgh.

“People want better,” Elyasti said. “It changed into a protest for their future because there isn’t many jobs for young people in France.”

Part of the history

As unrest began to grow, Elyasti said people posted on SnapChat and Instagram to meet up to protest.

And then things turned violent.

The Associated Press reported that rioters clashed with police, set cars on fire and stormed public buildings.

Jotham Parsons, who is an associate professor of history at Duquesne with expertise in French political, religious, and cultural life during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, said that protests and mass political action are not new to the country.

“They’re a huge part of French history, but particularly the way the French see themselves, it’s part of the national mythology,” Parsons said.

He noted significant moments in French history such as the Paris City Hall that was burned down by a mob in 1871, and when it was rebuilt a statue of Étienne Marcel, who led a mob that took over the government now stands there.

“It’s about communicating,” Marion said. “They are really a tool for the population in France to tell the government that they’re not happy with how things are going.”

But Sabine Bencun, an adjunct professor of French at Duquesne, said that she believes protesting is an important part of democracy, but when it comes to vandalism and looting, she thinks that is unacceptable.

“The demands of thousands of peaceful demonstrators is not linked to the violent action of some individual,” she said.

The nuances of protesting

Protesting looks different in the U.S. compared to France, Marion said. In France, the sidewalks are clear for pedestrians to walk on, and in the U.S. she has seen protesters taking over the sidewalks and streets being blocked unexpectedly.

The protests in France happen often and they go smoothly, according to Marion, because there are usually organizers coordinating with local government officials and police officers.

However, the recent protests ended up with some surges of violence.

“More people showed up than was anticipated and also protests happened in smaller cities that maybe see them less often, and that’s why you saw that city hall burned down,” Marion said, citing the burning of a historic 19th Century French Town Hall in Limoges on Oct. 17.

Protests often go awry when a group of people sees them as an opportunity to create disruption, according to Marion.

“It’s an unfortunate thing, but it has to happen because you need more laws. You need more regulations. You need better things for these young people,” Elyasti said. “These young protesters are asking whether France’s economic and social priorities adequately account for their future, which the truth is, it’s not. France, especially their president, Emmanuel Macron, has a view toward the older side of the population and didn’t really implement any good laws, rules or any benefits for these young people coming up.

“So if I had to leave a message to people at Duquesne it would be to support these students and just watch them. And understand their mission and understand that they’re not just destroying their country, they’re actually fighting for their rights.”

There are worries in the country about the future of political leaders because there are no budding candidates that are looking to create change, Marion said.

The next presidential election in France will be held on April 18, 2027.

Oftentimes the violence of the protests is dramatized in the media, Marion said. What she sees on social media is different from what she sees in the news. Although there have been violent acts, she has seen teenagers cheering on old people in wheel chairs and musicians playing music in plazas.

“I would encourage students to be curious when searching for information,” she said. “Try to find both sides or more of a story.”

France is a microcosm for an international trend, according to Marion.

“Wealth is being created, but it’s not being redistributed. It’s just getting harder everywhere in the world for the lower and middle class to live,” she said. “You see all those generations getting together and singing and wishing for a better world, which is not something that sounds radical to me. Wanting to be able to afford a house and food and having hope in the future seems like the bare minimum.”

The protests shouldn’t be seen as a sign as a failing democracy, Bencun said, but instead it is a sign of a strong one.

“Demonstration plays an important role in shaping French society for centuries,” she said.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu