French Diary: A Book or the Street
14 December 2007
French Diary: A Book or the Street
When I decided to study for a semester in France, I was determined to avoid anything American in search of full cultural immersion. For this reason, I chose to live with a French family while I studied at the language institute on the campus of the University of Paul Valéry, a French public university. Yet I hadn't expected my experience to be so authentic that I would be directly affected by radical shifts taking place in contemporary French politics and society.
It began on the 12th of November, when a group of students at my university voted to "strike". In French political language, a strike, or grêve, is a sort of general protest whose bargaining power may not necessarily be aimed at those directly affected. For the students, this meant barricading the doors of every building on campus with piles of desks and chairs and spraying revolutionary slogans on walls calling for resistance, protest, and combat. The reason: a law passed this August outlining reforms giving French universities increased autonomy in the hope of improving their finances. Yet, because of the general egalitarian spirit–at times slipping towards communism–that continues to live in France, a loud minority still exists whose primary concern is equality at the expense of quality.
Not long after the student protest, the campus was shut down administratively and was blocked off. I missed a few days of class until the language institute was able to relocate us to a temporary building off-campus where we're finishing the school year.
What is particularly vexing about the situation is that a minority of students, because of their methods and organization, have been able to cripple an entire campus. Not to mention the absurd idea that students can go on strike. There has finally been some organization of students against the strike, but fear of a violent confrontation keeps them timid. I was frustrated that the students affected by the injustice seemed complacent, even fatalistic. The strikers' rhetoric was absurd, yet for some reason, they seemed powerless before it. What the affected student's lacked in motivation, the striker's more than made up for in passion and emotion. Their greatest weapon was their outrage, directed at, as far as I could tell, anyone who disagreed with them.
Popular movements are an integral part of any free organization, but they must be backed by more than feelings, they must be just and coherent, backed by reason and morality. All great leaders of change have understood this. I've always been hesitant of street demonstrations as a mob mentality can too quickly spiral into further injustice. These sorts of movements should be the last resort, as was recently the case in Burma, or a few years ago in Ukraine's Orange Revolution. Instead, for citizen's of functioning democracies, I believe the library is a better place than the street. It's easy to complain, it's much more difficult to develop real solutions. So for my revolution: to the books citizens!
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Comments
Well, most "egalitarian" revolutions adverseley affect the people they claim to help.
Thanks Jonathan,
Were Unions to stop at better working conditions and not "picket" to keep non union workers from crossing the line when these workers would like to enjoy their present wages, then they might have a positive role.
I am glad you had this experience...and of all places in France.
The "absurd idea that students can go on strike" is not so absurd. In 1968 it helped to eventually bring down the government and forced French society to to become more equal and less discriminatory, and a few years ago it helped stop the government introducing laws which would have made young people second class workers with much reduced workplace rights simply because they were younger than their colleagues.
And in both of these occasions the students, although only indirectly affected by the issues stood up for the marginalised against the injustice of the dominant view.
Now I'm not necessarily arguing that the current situation is in the same league as 2005, yet alone 1968, however there is a tradition of student activism in France, and maybe this is part of your "total immersion" experience!
Students, like anyone else, are certainly allowed to protest, whether on the streets, in the press, or elsewhere. But the idea that, as a student, you can use your choice to stop working as a bargaining chip is still absurd. A university education is not a right, and you only hurt yourself by stopping. It is particularly ridiculous when the protesters are a minority that infringe on the right of the majority to continue working.
As for the protests against the CPE in 2006: the proposed law was not the solution, but it was progress. As a piece in the Economist (PDF) at that time outlines, France already has a two-tier employment system. This contract was to allow them a foot in the door.
We French (I am a French citizen through my parents) depend too much on the state. To the point where individual initiative has been severely compromised. Fear and helplessness infect the public debate. 50% of the French believe the future will be worse than the present. The students protesting this year and last were not proposing any solutions, they simply want to be guaranteed the same comfy jobs their parents have. An economic impossibility.
The tradition of student activism in France does put the generally apathetic American campuses to shame. But I'm still not sure what's worse: being passionate and wrong, or doing nothing.
Its interesting to hear your perspective.
Here in Europe, many do see university education as a "right" which should be open to all who have the academic ability. And while we may depend on the state, we feel that is part of society's covenant- after all we have paid 25-45% tax and expect something in return!
As to the future, yes, some of us here think that needs to change, however we are unsure and divided as to how we should direct that change. We look across the pond and aren't always persuaded that the costs to society of some of the alternatives are worth the benefits to the individual...
Are you still in France. I have been watching with mch interest as the University students strike. I live in the South of France now and constantly have to deal with the French strikes. But I'm just curious to see if you are still here?
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