The Yellow Vests Movement – “We Want to Live, Not Just Survive!”
Saturday, August 3, 2019, 3:00 PM
Auditorium, University of Maryland School of Social Work
525 West Redwood Street, Baltimore
The yellow vests movement began in France in November 2018, following the government’s decision to raise the fuel tax. It existed mainly outside the major urban centers. And it was outside the unions and political parties that would usually be associated with any significant mobilization. But far from being a minority movement, it was made up of a significant portion of the French population: the poorer sections of the working class, retirees, and women. The movement gained widespread support as it demonstrated on the exclusive Champs de Elysees in Paris and battled the police for the right to put forward its grievances. General assemblies, grouping members or their representatives into broader regional bodies, were formed to discuss the direction of their movement. We will discuss the political developments within this movement and how the extreme left can engage with it.
Our speaker will be a revolutionary militant who is a teacher in the Lyon region.
