The yellow vests movement, started in October 2018, calls for better taxation reforms and social justice. Protesters are motivated to fight the rise of fuel prices imposed by the government, which is worsening the situation of working classes and favoring the elite.
It is important to break down the main features of this movement in order to better determine whether or not it can be considered as such. Thus, I intend to analyze the yellow vests movement through both the lenses of The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements (Snow, D., Soule, S., & Kriesi, H. - 2007) and Social Movements: an Introduction (Della Porta, D., Diani, M. - 2006).
Mario Diani and Donatella Della Porta (2006) define Social Movements as the collective action characterized by:
1. The presence of an “enemy”, a counterpart which the movement opposes
As shown in the pictures A and B below, this movement clearly has an enemy: Emmanuel Macron. Macron has been the main target of the protesters since the movement started, he being the creator of the fuel policies that the yellow vests are so strongly opposed to.
2. The existence of a dense informal network without a clear representative
Despite the large number of participants, this movement has always been identified as a unique entity, rather than a group led by a single individual. Protesters are tightly and equally bonded with each other to pursue a common goal.
3. Actors who fight for a common cause and feel a sense of belonging to their group and share a collective identity
People participating to the yellow vests movement mostly come from the same class, the working class, they all share the will to fight elitism and they are all bonded even by their looks, since they all wear a yellow vest during the protests. These elements emphasize the existence of a collective identity shared by all the people who are seeking a radical change of the French system.
Because the yellow vests movement fits the framework defined by Della Porta and Diani it may be considered a social movement. What about the criteria of Snow, Soule and Kriesi?
Snow, Soule and Kriesi (2007) believe that all social movements:
1. Can be regarded as a collective joint action for a common goal
As mentioned before, the yellow vests may be regarded as a unique entity pursuing policy change in France, thus having the same collective goal.
2. Foster change in society
Change is key when thinking about the yellow vests. Indeed, yellow vesrs protesters of this movement put themselves at risk for the sake of fostering change in society, from the reintroduction of the tax on wealth to the minimum-wage increases.
3. Are pursued inside of an institutional or non-institutional arena
Protesters “make politics on the streets” (Della Porta and Diani, 2006, p. 29), meaning that they mostly express their will outside of institutional arenas. However, there has been an attempt to enter the institutional sphere by presenting some yellow vests representatives in the elections of the European Parliament. Unfortunately, their attempt was unsuccessful, as they only got 0,54 percent of the votes (Rfi, 2019).
4. Have some sort of degree of organization
The yellow vests movement certainly has been organized throughout these months. Thus, by using any kind of platform, from hanging posters in the streets to posting on social media groups, protesters managed to plan their routes to walk together in the French cities every Saturday. Despite the fact that this might be considered a low degree of organization, this movement has evolved through time and has expanded its network in a more efficient way weekend after weekend. Protesters eventually showed organization not only for Saturday events, but also for weekly citizen forums (picture C) to discuss their demands.
(C) A flyer for one of the ‘citizens’ dialogues’ organised by the Lyon yellow vests between January and June (translation below)
5. Have a temporal continuity
Since the yellow vests protest is still ongoing and it has been going on for about 60 weeks every Saturday, it may be regarded as a continuous movement characterized by a temporal continuity.
Because the yellow vests movement fits mostly all of the categories listed by both the analyzed works, it may be considered a social movement in all effects.
Della Porta, Donatella, and Diani, Mario, Social Movements: an Introduction (Malden MA: Blackwell, 2006).
Rfi. (2019, May 27). French Yellow Vests miss out on seats in European Parliament. Retrieved from http://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20190527-yellow-vests-miss-out-seats-european-parliament-france.
Snow, D., Soule, S., & Kriesi, H. (2007). The blackwell companion to social movements (Blackwell companions to sociology). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
A. www.thenational.ae/. (2019, January 19). Retrieved from https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/french-yellow-vest-protests-to-continue-despite-macron-outreach-1.815274
B. Reuters, & Platiau, C. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.dw.com/en/frances-great-debate-is-over-so-what-comes-next/a-47941300
C. Lobbedez, E. (2020, January 16). Gilets jaunes: one year on, how the 'yellow vest' movement has changed French citizens' lives. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/gilets-jaunes-one-year-on-how-the-yellow-vest-movement-has-changed-french-citizens-lives-127178.
“We, the yellow vests for the yellow vests, invite you to attend the citizen dialogue (the 7th and the 8th of the year)”
“How can we concretely act to make happen what we are fighting for?”
“Do not throw this poster on the floor, give it to your neighbor”
