Bonjour à tous et toutes!
Sorry that my blog's a little late this time, I will admit that I have started having difficulty thinking up topics.
But, I think I landed on a pretty solid topic in the end :)
So I'm sure most of you have heard of the stereotype that the French are always on strike, protesting against something or another. While that's not 100% true, I have definitely found that it's rooted in truth. The French know how to hold a protest (une manifestation), and they do it rather frequently.
Most recently, there have been a lot of protests against the proposed changes to the nation's labor laws, which would basically put all of the currently labor laws up in the air. These changes are being proposed in the hopes that they will help bring down the percentage of unemployed French citizens, but many French believe that, in the long run, these changes won't really help.
So, what do you do when the government proposes a change that will affect you and your family, potentially for the worst? You manifest!
I didn't manage to get pictures of it, but this past Wednesday there were manifestations in Rennes, and all throughout France. Here, the manifestations were led by university students, who were skipping classes for the day. It was really interesting to talk to my host mother the night before, because neither of us knew if the university would be barricaded (as it was in Nantes during similar protests), if the buses would be running, or if there would be any other interruptions to our daily routine. While those organizing manifestations do have to alert authorities before they manifest, this doesn't guarantee that things won't go according to their initial plan. For example, when I was visiting Mont Saint Michel a few weeks ago, there was a manifestation in downtown Rennes that turned into a bit of a riot, with broken windows, graffiti, and eventually tear gas. I don't think anyone was hurt, but this turn of events meant that the bus system was down for an hour or so.
So it's always interesting when you know a manifestation is on the way, but this Wednesday nothing more extreme broke out, and I was able to go in for my classes.
But this issue (labor laws reform) is by no means settled. Walking home from the farmers' market with a friend yesterday, we saw a "double mani" (as we dubbed it). Basically, there was a group of syndicat (union) members having a bit of a protest/public meeting on one side, and a group of university-aged people on the other side, protesting their protest. My friend and I talked with one of the syndicat reps, who explained that the younger group (whom she called "anarchists") were unhappy with the syndicats because they are willing to negotiate on the labor law issues, and because these young folk aren't down with the representation. Well, as you can see I didn't exactly understand everything she explained, but it was still interesting to hear her views.
While I grew up with a mother who participated in and organized many a manifestation, it's been a while since I've seen one up close, and I've never seen one quite as organized as they are in France. The participants aren't just holding homemade signs, but flags that have been designed for this event, or matching shirts, or some other unifying symbol. There are people here whose job is to plan manifestations.
The French don't mess around.
While I don't plan on participating in any manifestations, I am thankful to see them and learn about why people are driven to go on strike (une grève) and manifest for their beliefs.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I felt more in the mood to drop some knowledge today :)
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
A la prochaine fois!
Evelyn
Sorry that my blog's a little late this time, I will admit that I have started having difficulty thinking up topics.
But, I think I landed on a pretty solid topic in the end :)
So I'm sure most of you have heard of the stereotype that the French are always on strike, protesting against something or another. While that's not 100% true, I have definitely found that it's rooted in truth. The French know how to hold a protest (une manifestation), and they do it rather frequently.
Most recently, there have been a lot of protests against the proposed changes to the nation's labor laws, which would basically put all of the currently labor laws up in the air. These changes are being proposed in the hopes that they will help bring down the percentage of unemployed French citizens, but many French believe that, in the long run, these changes won't really help.
So, what do you do when the government proposes a change that will affect you and your family, potentially for the worst? You manifest!
I didn't manage to get pictures of it, but this past Wednesday there were manifestations in Rennes, and all throughout France. Here, the manifestations were led by university students, who were skipping classes for the day. It was really interesting to talk to my host mother the night before, because neither of us knew if the university would be barricaded (as it was in Nantes during similar protests), if the buses would be running, or if there would be any other interruptions to our daily routine. While those organizing manifestations do have to alert authorities before they manifest, this doesn't guarantee that things won't go according to their initial plan. For example, when I was visiting Mont Saint Michel a few weeks ago, there was a manifestation in downtown Rennes that turned into a bit of a riot, with broken windows, graffiti, and eventually tear gas. I don't think anyone was hurt, but this turn of events meant that the bus system was down for an hour or so.
So it's always interesting when you know a manifestation is on the way, but this Wednesday nothing more extreme broke out, and I was able to go in for my classes.
But this issue (labor laws reform) is by no means settled. Walking home from the farmers' market with a friend yesterday, we saw a "double mani" (as we dubbed it). Basically, there was a group of syndicat (union) members having a bit of a protest/public meeting on one side, and a group of university-aged people on the other side, protesting their protest. My friend and I talked with one of the syndicat reps, who explained that the younger group (whom she called "anarchists") were unhappy with the syndicats because they are willing to negotiate on the labor law issues, and because these young folk aren't down with the representation. Well, as you can see I didn't exactly understand everything she explained, but it was still interesting to hear her views.
While I grew up with a mother who participated in and organized many a manifestation, it's been a while since I've seen one up close, and I've never seen one quite as organized as they are in France. The participants aren't just holding homemade signs, but flags that have been designed for this event, or matching shirts, or some other unifying symbol. There are people here whose job is to plan manifestations.
The French don't mess around.
While I don't plan on participating in any manifestations, I am thankful to see them and learn about why people are driven to go on strike (une grève) and manifest for their beliefs.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I felt more in the mood to drop some knowledge today :)
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
A la prochaine fois!
Evelyn