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France’s #Nuit Debout Social Movement: Young People Rising up and Moral Emotions

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Pickard

    (Institut du Monde Anglophone, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle—Paris 3, 75006 Paris, France)

  • Judith Bessant

    (School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia)

Abstract

Set against a backdrop of austerity and neoliberal policies affecting many young people adversely, the Nuit Debout protest movement in France began in March 2016 when people gathered in public spaces to oppose the Socialist government’s plan to introduce neoliberal labour legislation. Like other post-2008 movements, Nuit Debout was leaderless, non-hierarchical, and relied on social media for political communication and to mobilise participants. The Nuit Debout was also a movement inspired by powerful moral-political emotions such as righteous anger and hope. In this article, the authors address two questions. First, what features of Nuit Debout distinguished it from earlier social movements in France? Second, what role did moral emotions play in mobilising people to act as they did? Drawing on interviews with young protestors and their own testimonies, we argue that Nuit Debout was a distinctive form of protest for France. One distinguishing feature was the way young people—the “precarious generation”—were motivated by a strong sense of situated injustice, much of which related to what they saw as the unfairness of austerity policies, being deprived of a decent future and the feeling they had been betrayed by governments.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Pickard & Judith Bessant, 2018. "France’s #Nuit Debout Social Movement: Young People Rising up and Moral Emotions," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-21, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:8:y:2018:i:4:p:100-:d:176123
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andolfatto, Dominique & Labbé, Dominique, 2012. "The Future of the French Trade Unions," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 23(4), pages 323-340.
    2. Gunnell, John G., 1988. "American Political Science, Liberalism, and the Invention of Political Theory," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(1), pages 71-87, March.
    3. Andolfatto, Dominique & Labbé, Dominique, 2012. "The Future of the French Trade Unions," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(4), pages 323-340.
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