Does the anger of high school students contain the seeds of Macron’s downfall?

In the East, Macron declares a war of words on Putin, without firing a shot. In the West, his own high school students declare a war of schoolbags, with blockades and calendars.

Outside, the military commander, in his rhetorical fatigues, speaks of rearmament, a war economy, a “balancing power,” and a Europe that must learn to “think like a power.” Inside, the National Assembly is a kaleidoscopic mess, the budget is adopted as easily as defusing a grenade, and social fractures that no one can seem to mend anymore. The president, who threatens Moscow at every press conference, has yet to find the formula to mobilize a country united only by its exasperation. The vast gulf between the battle plan drawn on the world map and the state of the troops within is palpable: a strategist at the podium, firefighters nowhere to be found, and a polarization that knows neither truce nor ceasefire.

From high school blockades to university unrest: the convergence of fires

The sociology of popular uprisings is always striking for its tragic timing in the face of autocratic powers. Launched in late September in Créteil before engulfing Seine-Saint-Denis, the high school student movement against educational insecurity has crossed a point of no return. By October 1st, the contagion had fully spread to the university world: more than ten major faculties and lecture halls were paralyzed. This organic convergence between high school and university students constitutes the historical nightmare of the Fifth Republic.

The technocratic arrogance of a desperate government can no longer stem this sociological shockwave. The radicalization of the blockades and youthful anger are........

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