Yellow vests: who were they?
Zhidkova Alexandra
The “yellow vest” protests that happened in France during the period from the late 2018 to the first half of 2019 became one of the key events of E. Macron's first presidential term. The largest protest movement since 1968 was caused by a complex of socio-economic and political problems including the polarization of employment, the erosion of the middle class, the democratic deficit, and the expansion of forms of civic and political participation. The purpose of the article, which examines the socio-value portrait of the yellow vests consists of several aspects. First, the author demonstrates which socio-professional and age groups formed the core of the protest, and what were the reasons behind the protest. The issue of low representation of French youth among protesters is touched upon. Author traces the correlation between the involvement in the protest and the income level, place of living and key aspects of the perception of the economic and political situation in the country. The article shows the relationship between the emergence of the movement and long-term changes in the labor market, the polarization of the middle class and the increasing divergence between its lower and upper strata. The author of article analyzes the value portrait of the yellow vests and the correlation in the motivation of the protesters of materialistic and post-materialistic values. The analysis of the values of the “yellow vests” is based on a wide range of social surveys and data from the World Values Survey. Author shows how the request for “vests” combined materialistic demands and consumer desires with a request for visibility and the opportunity to have more influence on the socio-economic policy of the state. Finally, the study of the political positioning of the yellow vests allows us to look at the causes and meaning of the movement in a broader context.
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