Political Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance

The article analyzes the current political crisis in France, the most striking manifestation of which is the «gilets jaunes» (yellow vests) movement. The current crisis is partly a consequence of the protracted identity crisis at both extremes of French political spectrum, resulting from a long peri...

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Autor principal:	E. O. Obichkina
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN RU
Publicado:	MGIMO University Press 2019
Materias:	france crisis of the parliamentarism the governance methods of emmanuel macron technocracy in power yellow vests movement national debate criticism of the tax system International relations JZ2-6530
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/eae6024f67fb4eedaa4c76452ce399d8
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:eae6024f67fb4eedaa4c76452ce399d82021-11-23T14:50:41ZPolitical Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance2071-81602541-909910.24833/2071-8160-2019-2-65-101-135https://doaj.org/article/eae6024f67fb4eedaa4c76452ce399d82019-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.vestnik.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/925https://doaj.org/toc/2071-8160https://doaj.org/toc/2541-9099The article analyzes the current political crisis in France, the most striking manifestation of which is the «gilets jaunes» (yellow vests) movement. The current crisis is partly a consequence of the protracted identity crisis at both extremes of French political spectrum, resulting from a long period of relatively conflict-free alternation of left and center-right parties in a relatively favorable economic environment that accompanies the development of a consumer society and a social state. This model, which can be called «consumer democracy», has failed with the onset of the global economic crisis. The «stepsons» of modern capitalism, who are used to relying on social guarantees from the «welfare state» persistently reject the neoliberal recipes favorable among elites for dealing with the crisis. A wave of «gilets jaunes» protests seems to be contingent on the specific situation that emerged in France during the presidential elections of 2017 and the beginning of the era of Emmanuel Macron, who aims at restructuring French society and economy. Its main feature is the growing public disbelieve in and simultaneous collapse of both political parties that occupy and divide the French political Olympus at the time of power transition. Macron’s supporters enjoy an absolute majority in the Parliament without any meaningful opposition capable of opposing the president. It allows for a rapid rate of reforms but produces a backlash from society that perceives the situation as a violation of the dialogue between voters and legislators. Dissatisfied people without any hope to be heard join the ranks of the mass spontaneous movement of «gilets jaunes», triggered by the introduction of the so-called «environmental» tax. This movement can be viewed from different perspectives – political analysis can be complemented by historical anthropology, because the spontaneous nature of the protest resembles the anti-tax uprisings of the 17th-18th centuries. From a philosophical point of view, it seems to be a reaction of outsiders to deep social transformations associated with the pauperization of the middle classes, globalization, waves of migration and the digital revolution. The government’s response – revocation of the law that triggered the movement and the launch of «big national debates» – led to a relative decline in the activity of «gilets jaunes», but the main reason for the downturn is preparation for the upcoming European elections, which could be used as an opportunity to voice their discontent with the president and to return the civil protest in the electoral channel. The «gilets jaunes» movement hardly has any political future, but its experience, social potential and methods can be used in future protests, since its main agenda has not been exhausted – reconciliation of the neoliberal economic policies with the interests of the disadvantaged part of French society.E. O. ObichkinaMGIMO University Pressarticlefrancecrisis of the parliamentarismthe governance methods of emmanuel macrontechnocracy in poweryellow vests movementnational debatecriticism of the tax systemInternational relationsJZ2-6530ENRUVestnik MGIMO-Universiteta, Vol 0, Iss 2(65), Pp 101-135 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN RU
topic	france crisis of the parliamentarism the governance methods of emmanuel macron technocracy in power yellow vests movement national debate criticism of the tax system International relations JZ2-6530
spellingShingle	france crisis of the parliamentarism the governance methods of emmanuel macron technocracy in power yellow vests movement national debate criticism of the tax system International relations JZ2-6530 E. O. Obichkina Political Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance
description	The article analyzes the current political crisis in France, the most striking manifestation of which is the «gilets jaunes» (yellow vests) movement. The current crisis is partly a consequence of the protracted identity crisis at both extremes of French political spectrum, resulting from a long period of relatively conflict-free alternation of left and center-right parties in a relatively favorable economic environment that accompanies the development of a consumer society and a social state. This model, which can be called «consumer democracy», has failed with the onset of the global economic crisis. The «stepsons» of modern capitalism, who are used to relying on social guarantees from the «welfare state» persistently reject the neoliberal recipes favorable among elites for dealing with the crisis. A wave of «gilets jaunes» protests seems to be contingent on the specific situation that emerged in France during the presidential elections of 2017 and the beginning of the era of Emmanuel Macron, who aims at restructuring French society and economy. Its main feature is the growing public disbelieve in and simultaneous collapse of both political parties that occupy and divide the French political Olympus at the time of power transition. Macron’s supporters enjoy an absolute majority in the Parliament without any meaningful opposition capable of opposing the president. It allows for a rapid rate of reforms but produces a backlash from society that perceives the situation as a violation of the dialogue between voters and legislators. Dissatisfied people without any hope to be heard join the ranks of the mass spontaneous movement of «gilets jaunes», triggered by the introduction of the so-called «environmental» tax. This movement can be viewed from different perspectives – political analysis can be complemented by historical anthropology, because the spontaneous nature of the protest resembles the anti-tax uprisings of the 17th-18th centuries. From a philosophical point of view, it seems to be a reaction of outsiders to deep social transformations associated with the pauperization of the middle classes, globalization, waves of migration and the digital revolution. The government’s response – revocation of the law that triggered the movement and the launch of «big national debates» – led to a relative decline in the activity of «gilets jaunes», but the main reason for the downturn is preparation for the upcoming European elections, which could be used as an opportunity to voice their discontent with the president and to return the civil protest in the electoral channel. The «gilets jaunes» movement hardly has any political future, but its experience, social potential and methods can be used in future protests, since its main agenda has not been exhausted – reconciliation of the neoliberal economic policies with the interests of the disadvantaged part of French society.
format	article
author	E. O. Obichkina
author_facet	E. O. Obichkina
author_sort	E. O. Obichkina
title	Political Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance
title_short	Political Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance
title_full	Political Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance
title_fullStr	Political Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance
title_full_unstemmed	Political Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance
title_sort	political crisis in france: «gilets jaunes» and the end of the «first period» of the emmanuel macron’s governance
publisher	MGIMO University Press
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/eae6024f67fb4eedaa4c76452ce399d8
work_keys_str_mv	AT eoobichkina politicalcrisisinfrancegiletsjaunesandtheendofthefirstperiodoftheemmanuelmacronsgovernance
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Political Crisis in France: «Gilets Jaunes» and the End of the «First Period» of the Emmanuel Macron’s Governance

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