Gilets jaunes, Macron’s presidency, and France’s contradictions

Abstract

The recent gilets jaunes movement in France has put in question the traditional oppositions (left/right, progressive/conservative) that has marked the French political discourse since the Second World War. What are the causes and ramifications of this significant transformation? Are these protests that paralyzed France for more than half a year only a “French story” or do they raise issues beyond the borders of France? Have the decisions made by the French government in response to the movement resolved the crisis? This article explores the extent to which the gilets jaunes movement reveals France’s current contradictions between its ambition to remain a major nation in the world and the formidable challenges it faces regarding the preservation of its sovereignty with respect to EU’s demands, its socio-economic welfare system in a globalized world, and its democratic form of governance with the rise of populism. These questions/issues that are deeply rooted in the movement have national but also global implications.