Becoming political while avoiding politics: a study of Yellow Vests first-timers

Abstract

The French Yellow Vests movement offers a case study for examining the logics and effects of the avoidance of institutional politics. The movement brought together seasoned activists and a large share of first-time protesters, i.e. social actors with no prior experience in collective action or party politics. Drawing on in-depth ethnographic biographical interviews conducted with the latter, we argue that, paradoxically enough, avoiding politics was a condition of possibility for their entry and continuation in the mobilisation. Moreover, they became political insofar as they acquired a sense of entitlement to speak out publicly as citizens, and a new appetence for current affairs. Even though first-timers’ interest in politics and their forms of knowledge remained very unequal, we urge to study the avoidance of institutional politics as political tactics that might, under certain circumstances, foster politicisation among the most disenfranchised groups.

Manifesting the revolutionary people: The Yellow Vest Movement and popular sovereignty

“…And 'the people' can only be unanimous" (Kouvelakis, 2019, p. 80). This performance of unity came at the expense of expressing differences of opinion within the movement (Reungoat et al, 2022), and more crucially differences of identity, including class identity. This might seem contradictory to the social affiliation of the movement, which began as a protest against an increase in fuel taxes whose burden was disproportionally borne by the poor.…”

“…But the Yellow Vests spoke a language devoid of political markers: there was no manifesto, very few chants and slogans, no centralized decision-making proceduresdespite some initiatives from groups often composed of long-time activists (Ravelli et al, 2020)-and the movement rejected the left-right divide or any form of partisanship (Bedock et al, 2020). This dual absence of representation and partisanship was not a lack (due to incompetence, for example), but a positive and active "avoidance of institutional politics" (Reungoat et al, 2022).…”