Mobilization of October 17: Can the “convergence of struggles” this Saturday drown out the demands of high school students?

A Saturday in the street. “Yellow vests”, climate activists, trade unionists, high school students and students are preparing to bring their anger to the streets this October 17, after a month of mobilization launched by educational establishments. Across France, around 500 actions are “considered” and more than 90 events are “being structured”, according to those close to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. Ryad Rani, president of the High School Union, called “massively to join the “yellow vest” movement on Saturday.”

High school students are demanding human and financial resources and the end of Parcoursup, and can Saturday's mobilization strengthen the scope of their demands? Or does it risk making them less visible, amid demands on purchasing power and the price of fuel?

An enlargement which does not necessarily weaken

In the midst of a mobilization made up of employee unions, student collectives or political parties, “there is indeed a risk that the primary demands of high school students will be drowned out”, estimates Virginie Tisserant, doctor in contemporary political history and associate researcher at Aix-Marseille-Université. But the message from young people, she believes, is above all confused by media treatment and the political class, which tend to reduce the movement to episodes of violence, or to demands perceived as derisory.

This expansion of October 17 does not necessarily weaken the movement because it can reveal its deep nature, “this generalized feeling of multidimensional crisis where things are not going well for anyone,” continues the historian. A malaise that goes back at least fifteen years, she says, referring to the demonstrations by high school students in 2011 against job cuts and school schedules.

This disarray could open up a “potential political shift, like in May 1968, where there was a convergence of struggles” in the face of outdated institutions, argues Virginie Tisserant. She emphasizes that political representatives “no longer speak to young people today, because they do not have the means to promise them a better future”, between unemployment and precariousness.

A mobilization that the government wants to politicize

Faced with this diverse protest involving high school students, unions, parties and students, the government may for its part be tempted to brush aside the demands of young people to reclassify this protest as ideological political agitation. And facilitate the security response. “Blocking actions on structuring axes and major, important, essential equipment will not be tolerated,” announced the entourage of the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nunez, this Friday.

“The government has an interest in politicizing the debate to avoid its responsibility and the response it could provide,” believes Virginie Tisserant. But this strategy carries a risk, she warns: “This generation has less and less confidence in the question of democracy and institutions.” And this distrust fuels “the very strong breakthrough of radical ideas”.