Thou doth protest much

Nobody protests like the French. Stagnant wages? Smash up a bank. Elitist education policies? Burn some cars. Complacent royal family? Revolution!...

Protest is deeply embedded in French culture. Back in the mediaeval and early modern period, Europeans would participate in folk rituals called 'charivari', where local communities would publicly humiliate people accused of moral offences by singing mocking songs and banging pots and pans outside their houses. In France, charivaris grew increasingly political over time, with the houses of unpopular politicians and officials often targeted.

Since then, protest has become an integral facet of French public life. 'We can explain this 'tradition' by [looking at] the history of France: the French Revolution, the commune of Paris 1871,' French youth activist Alexis Poyard said. 'We protest whenever we are sad or when we are angry.'


Some commentators have quipped that it doesn't make sense for the French to essentially be on stand-by for protest at all times, when they have things so good in comparison to everyone else. But this is exactly why things are better in France - because they see the power in collective action and demand change.

From 'Why are the French So Good at Protesting?', Dazed