In recent weeks, France has witnessed a widespread wave of social protests that began in late September 2026 and gradually evolved from student demonstrations into a nationwide protest movement.
The protests initially emerged from dissatisfaction with poor conditions in schools and universities, insufficient education funding, overcrowded classrooms, inequalities in university admissions, and young people’s growing concerns about their future. Gradually, however, additional demands emerged, including higher wages, action against inflation, rising fuel prices, declining purchasing power, and the deterioration of public services.
Meanwhile, trade unions, groups associated with the Yellow Vests movement, and left-wing political currents have joined the protests.
The demonstrations on October 17 were accompanied by clashes and the looting of several shops, resulting in more than 2,400 arrests.
On October 31, the third nationwide wave of demonstrations took place, with approximately 320,000 participants. Although most marches remained peaceful, clashes between protesters and police occurred in several cities, including Lyon, Toulouse, and Marseille.
The government of Emmanuel Macron has responded by increasing security measures, restricting demonstration routes, and attempting to control public gatherings. In response, the CGT trade union has called for a general strike on November 5.
The issue is therefore no longer simply a protest against the state of education. Rather, it reflects an accumulation of interconnected economic, social, and political grievances.
These developments have acquired greater political significance in the run-up to the 2027 presidential election and have even contributed to strengthening the position of the far right in opinion polls.
Against this backdrop, we conducted an interview with one of the participants in the protests, who identifies as a French anarcho-syndicalist and runs an online news, social, and political channel.
The interview is presented below.
Question 1:
What outlook do you see for the future of the protests in France? What are the role and function of street demonstrations in France, and are there any tangible differences compared with Iran and the Middle East?
To understand the current situation, we need to look at previous protest movements.
The movement against pension reform was largely organised by trade unions and accompanied by massive, predominantly peaceful demonstrations. By contrast, the Yellow Vests movement was more autonomous, organised around roundabouts and local assemblies, and at times developed an insurrectionary dimension.
Over the past twenty years, major social victories have been rare. The Yellow Vests managed to obtain certain concessions from the government, but the mobilisation against pension reform failed to prevent its adoption in 2023. These experiences have contributed to growing distrust of official institutions and traditional trade union strategies.
A recurring cycle keeps unfolding: public anger erupts, the ruling power responds with repression, and the protest movement gradually subsides, while its underlying causes remain unresolved.
Then a new protest movement emerges, carrying the accumulated frustrations and grievances of previous struggles. This dynamic makes each subsequent movement more radical, which in turn leads to intensified repression. It is a vicious and seemingly endless cycle.
Alongside these issues, there is also severe political polarisation: a far right that is fascist, racist, and Islamophobic, and which is on the verge of gaining power, faces a left whose main political representative is La France Insoumise (LFI). Its programme is reformist, although its political discourse adopts a combative tone.
Recent opinion polls suggest that Mélenchon could reach the second round of the presidential election, where he would face the fascists.
The racist terrorist attack of October 23 in the city of Trappes, which targeted people perceived to be Muslim or of African descent, must also be understood within this broader context of racist violence.
Ultimately, public spaces are both arenas of confrontation with the ruling power and, more importantly, spaces for self-organisation.
At roundabouts during the Yellow Vests movement, outside high schools, and in university assemblies, people meet, talk to one another, and build solidarity, away from political parties and trade unions, through independent and autonomous organisation.
And that is genuinely enjoyable.
Our experience has something in common with that of people in Iran, particularly at this point: breaking isolation and recognising the power of collective action, despite the considerable differences in the conditions and dangers we face.
From an anarchist perspective, the central challenge is to transform this temporary force into a lasting capacity for collective decision-making and action.
Street protests may no longer be capable of fully restraining governments. Nevertheless, they have become spaces in which shared political experiences can be created.
Question 2:
What role do immigrants and ethnic minorities play in the protests? Is it true that the majority of protesters are not of French origin?
I do not want to answer this question in full. However, I can say with certainty that protesters come from diverse backgrounds, with different motivations and a variety of ideological and ethnic identities.
Question 3:
The number of arrests in France is quite high. What solutions do you propose, and do you think we can offer any assistance?
Yes, thousands of people have been arrested, but this does not mean that thousands of them are still in prison.
Many are released after several hours of police custody and questioning, although they may subsequently face prosecution or be summoned to court.
Official figures as of October 8 recorded 6,877 instances of police custody and 21 cases of pre-trial detention ordered by a judge. These figures, of course, do not represent the number of criminal convictions.
Nevertheless, the first sentences handed down have been relatively severe by Western standards and have largely involved suspended prison sentences.
The harshest sentence I have heard of so far is six months of imprisonment, which may be served under electronic monitoring.
Repression in France is real: police violence, serious injuries, criminal prosecutions, and imprisonment for some individuals. However, in terms of its scale and methods, it cannot be compared with the deadly repression you experience in Iran.
Recognising this difference does not diminish the necessity of resisting repression here.
Human rights organisations condemn police violence and challenge restrictions imposed on the right to demonstrate.
Solidarity can also take the form of legal defence, supporting the families and loved ones of detainees, and helping cover legal expenses.
Even from abroad, you can contribute by sharing verified calls for solidarity issued by relevant organisations.
Question 4:
How do you organise the protests? What precautionary and safety measures do you take?
In this particular movement, trade unions organise major demonstration days and calls for strikes, while political parties support and participate in these actions.
Social media and messaging groups also circulate these calls, making it possible for people to join the movement or engage in local self-organisation around specific initiatives.
Thus, trade union organisation and autonomous initiatives coexist alongside one another.
There are also groups working to support arrested individuals.
Regarding immediate trials, the decision on whether to request additional time to prepare a defence should be made in consultation with a lawyer, as this decision may have consequences, including the possibility of pre-trial detention.
There are also minority forms of protest such as the Black Bloc, which rely on collective anonymity.
However, this approach does not represent the entire movement. The overwhelming majority of participants attend demonstrations with their faces uncovered, carrying placards and banners, and do not take part in clashes.
Of course, this does not necessarily protect them from the police either.
Question 5:
In many images, protesters can be seen carrying Palestinian flags and pictures of Che Guevara. What is the relationship between these symbols and the material concerns of French protesters?
For many peoples and movements engaged in struggle, the Palestinian people’s struggle represents a point of reference and inspiration.
In France, solidarity with Palestine has occupied an important place for decades within anti-colonial and internationalist traditions, particularly among left-wing movements.
The keffiyeh has also been worn in Western activist circles since the 1970s.
This support extends beyond the political left. Jacques Chirac, the President of France, openly defended the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to establish an independent state.
The connection between social struggles in France and the Palestinian question lies in international solidarity.
Fighting to improve our own living conditions does not prevent us from supporting people who face colonialism and dispossession.
These struggles are connected through their opposition to domination and their demand for human dignity, without implying that their circumstances are identical.
Palestinian flags and keffiyehs are symbols of this solidarity.
Images of Che Guevara, meanwhile, refer more to a revolutionary and anti-imperialist imagination.
These symbols do not mean that all protesters adhere to a single doctrine or ideology. Rather, they situate their struggles within a history that extends beyond the borders of France.
Question 6:
Are anarchist organisations in France allied with political parties that seek to govern the state?
No, they are not.
Many political groups in France only undertake joint actions, or at least coordinate their actions, at the level of specific practical initiatives.
Question 7:
Do you see any connection between the struggles of the people of Iran and Afghanistan and those of the people of France?
I do not know enough about the realities of Iran and Afghanistan to compare our experiences with your circumstances accurately.
We should also consider ourselves fortunate in comparison with the situation you face.
Nevertheless, there is one common thread connecting these struggles: young people are fighting for a future and for the right to make decisions about their own lives. They are fighting for the right to have a future that they themselves can shape.
Climate change, wars, economic insecurity, and developments driven by artificial intelligence all raise a common question:
What kind of world are they preparing for us, and how much control and influence do we have over it?
The political regimes, living conditions, and dangers we face differ profoundly. But the desire to live freely and with dignity, without exploitation and oppression, knows no borders.
Our struggles can be connected on this basis, creating international solidarity without overlooking the particular characteristics and differences of each struggle.
Question 8:
I associate France with the idea of the Republic and its famous slogan. Does this movement still consider itself committed to the principles of the French Republic?
This ideal remains, to a considerable extent, an unfulfilled promise.
We live in a capitalist society under a liberal system based on representative democracy. Certain freedoms are guaranteed, and we elect our leaders, but this does not mean that people have direct decision-making power over the conditions of their own lives and existence.
France is institutionally a republic. However, the social republic — a republic founded on genuine freedom and equality — remains an ongoing struggle that began in 1789.
The Paris Commune of 1871 was one of the most remarkable expressions of this struggle: an attempt to establish popular power and social emancipation.
The ideals of social republicanism and anarchism intersect within this historical legacy, although they are not entirely identical.
The slogan “Vive la Commune!” (Long Live the Commune!), which resurfaces in every social movement and has, interestingly, become more visible in recent years, expresses precisely this ideal: reclaiming collective power over our own lives.
Louise Michel embodies the connection between these two traditions.
A participant in the Paris Commune who later became an anarchist activist, she helped transform the black flag, originally a symbol of mourning for the Commune and its fallen, into a symbol of freedom and emancipation.
Question 9:
Do you think the current movement has the potential to become widespread and extend beyond France?
These struggles can transcend geographical borders because they confront a common logic: the logic of capitalism, which places human life and the living world at the service of profit accumulation.
The neoliberal cycle that began in the 1980s has expanded this logic even further: everything must become a commodity, including our most basic necessities.
Therefore, issues such as climate change, water, labour, and artificial intelligence all raise a common question:
Who makes the decisions? Who owns the resources, controls the tools, and imposes choices whose consequences we are forced to endure?
Water should belong to those whose lives depend on it.
Technology should serve to liberate us from compulsory and imposed labour, rather than turn us into useless beings or strengthen the mechanisms of surveillance and control over our lives.
Our vision cannot be limited to demanding better management of capitalism or simply replacing those who govern us.
We must build autonomy: popular assemblies, self-managed workplaces, common resources, and mutual-aid networks that connect and federate across borders.
This is what global solidarity means.
