A discussion moderator at the Nuit Debout activist occupation in the Place de la Republique in Paris stands beside a visual guide to hand gestures for use in consensus-based decision-making. (Photo: Marisa Holmes)
A specter is haunting France, and it is called direct democracy.
In 2011, throughout North Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe and the United States, there were similar occupations of public squares and calls for direct democracy. In reaction, there were multiple counterrevolutions, including military dictatorships and civil wars. There were also softer means of repression such as recuperation by political parties. The moment passed. Now, five years later, there is another moment beginning in France.
The Moment
Participants in the Nuit Debout occupation in Paris gather for a general assembly in the Place de la Republique. (Photo: Marisa Holmes)
Throughout the last year, France experienced a turn toward the right. The attacks on Charlie Hebdo, and then again in the fall at the stadium and at popular nightlife destinations, created a climate of fear, and politicians of all established parties leveraged this fear for their own advantage, implementing anti-terrorism measures, including the state of emergency. Then, early this year, the Socialist Party backed a new work law, which would significantly change the labor code so as to encourage more precarious conditions.
People could have given into fear, but they didn’t. They began to fight back.
These increasingly repressive and exploitative measures by the state could have continued without opposition. People could have given into fear, but they didn’t. They began to fight back. All the major unions including the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) took to the streets in protest. Then, militants within the labor movement, autonomous organizers, high school students and refugee groups joined. In this context, after a march against the labor law on March 31, an occupation…