Nuit Debout
= in english: 'Up All Night'.
Contextual Citation
“The #NuitDebout occupations are structured in a very similar way to those of the 15-M movement in Spain, with participatory decision-making structures and the belief that people should have a much greater say in democratic processes. It is organized chaos, with free food, professional sound systems, a website, live streaming and a medical tent, but with no one really in charge. “ (https://roarmag.org/essays/nuit-debout-republique-occupation/)
Description
From the Wikipedia:
“Nuit debout is a French social movement that emerged from opposition to the 2016 neoliberal labor reforms known as the "Loi Travail," and began on March 31, 2016. It has been compared to Occupy Wall Street of the United States and the anti-austerity 15-M or Indignados of Spain.It is seen as part of the wider Occupy movement.
Earlier protests on March 17, 2016 saw between 69,000 and 150,000 protesters against the Loi Travail driven primarily by youth organizations.[3] It grew significantly with demonstrations of 390,000 to 1.2 million protesters on March 31.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuit_debout)
2. Lauren McCauley:
"A statement issued by the Nuit Debout public assemblies reads in part:
Our mobilization was initially aimed at protesting against the French Labour Law. This reform is not an isolated case, since it comes as a new piece in the austerity measures which already affected our European neighbors and which will have the same effects as the Italian Job Acts or the Reforma Laboral in Spain. This concretely means more layoffs, more precarity, growing inequalities and the shaping of private interests. We refuse to suffer this shock strategy, notably imposed in the context of an authoritarian state of emergency.
...This movement was not born and will not die in Paris. From the Arab Spring to the 15M Movement, from Tahrir Square to Gezi park, Republic square and the plenty of other places occupied tonight in France are depicting the same angers, the same hopes and the same conviction: the need for a new society, where Democracy, Dignity and Liberty would not be hollow shells.
"This movement is yours too," the call for solidarity concludes. "It has no limit, no border and it belongs to all of those who wish to be part of it. We are thousands, but we can be millions." (http://commondreams.org/news/2016/04/11/all-night-protests-sweep-france-100000-join-pro-democracy-movement)
History
1. Sam Cossar-Gilbert, in Roar:
“Over the last month France has been rocked by mass protests, occupations and strikes, as a new generation takes to the streets to expresses its rage at labor reforms and growing inequality. Over a million people have mobilized across the country to say on vaut mieux que ça — “we are worth more than this.”
The Loi de Travail or Labor Law is one of a number of neoliberal and security reforms introduced by the Socialist government that continues to dismay the general population. It will make it easier for companies to fire staff and reduce payouts to laid-off employees, and it threatens the 35-hour workweek.The spark for the initial demonstration was lit by a group of young activists who launchedL’appel du 9 Mars, started a collective and organized a Facebook event that drew thousands of supporters. A petition against the Labor Law drew 1,000,000 signatures and group of YouTubers also created a viral video #OnVautMieuxQueCa. Local unions first responded to the call to mobilize, and were eventually joined by some of the larger national trade unions.
March 9 saw over 500,000 people take to the streets across France in a massive display of people power. Chants rang out: “Youth in pain, elders in misery, that is not the society we want,” and: “The youth are in the streets, your law is gone.”
The government was left scrambling to announce changes to the unpopular labor reform, which according to polls are opposed by up to 70 percent of the population. To many commentators the mobilizations were a flashback to 2006, when protests against the Contrat première embauche (CPE) was withdrawn after students brought the country to a standstill.
In France, unemployment currently sits at 10 percent, and the rapid growth of the movement is in part related to the economic and political crisis affecting much of Europe. It is a response not only to the new Labour Law, but also the feeling that something has gone profoundly wrong with the political system. Elected officials do not seem to represent the people they serve, and social and economic policies are determined purely by market concerns.” (https://roarmag.org/essays/nuit-debout-republique-occupation/)
2. Lauren McCauley:
"Reporting on the movement's origins, the Guardian's Angelique Chrisafis writes from Paris:
It began on 31 March with a night-time sit-in in Paris after the latest street demonstrations by students and unions critical of President François Hollande’s proposed changes to labour laws. But the movement and its radical nocturnal action had been dreamed up months earlier at a Paris meeting of leftwing activists.
"There were about 300 or 400 of us at a public meeting in February and we were wondering how can we really scare the government? We had an idea: at the next big street protest, we simply wouldn’t go home," said Michel, 60, a former delivery driver. Protesters debate issues such as national security, housing and proposed changes to French labour law.
"On 31 March, at the time of the labour law protests, that’s what happened. There was torrential rain, but still everyone came back here to the square. Then at 9pm, the rain stopped and we stayed. We came back the next day and as we keep coming back every night, it has scared the government because it’s impossible to define.
"There’s something here that I’ve never seen before in France – all these people converge here each night of their own accord to talk and debate ideas – from housing to the universal wages, refugees, any topic they like. No one has told them to, no unions are pushing them on – they’re coming of their own accord." (http://commondreams.org/news/2016/04/11/all-night-protests-sweep-france-100000-join-pro-democracy-movement)