France’s Yellow Vest movement has reached the six-month mark, but its 27th consecutive Saturday of protest made for a muted anniversary.
France24 reports how back in November, observers speculated the movement wouldn’t last a month. Six months on, Yellow Vest protesters are still pounding the pavement, weekend after weekend, all over France. Massive at its inception, the fluorescent wave of demonstrators – initially a backlash against a proposed fuel-tax hike, the movement was named for the high-visibility safety apparel French drivers must keep in their vehicles – drew 300,000 into the streets and onto the country’s roundabouts during those early, heady weekends.
But even as the marching weather improved through the spring, attendance has dwindled markedly.
Born on social media, and Facebook in particular, the Yellow Vest movement remains unprecedented on many metrics. “Even after six months of protest, this movement remains intangible, unclassifiable, in short, mysterious,” Christian Delporte, a contemporary historian at the University of Versailles, told FRANCE 24.
“Previously, social conflicts were identifiable because they had professional, university or community organisations as their starting points, with delegates relaying one or two demands,” the academic explained. “But this movement, which is neither right-wing nor left-wing, which is made up of executives, labourers and small-business owners, does not follow from any organisation and isn’t relayed by any representatives.”
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