France's long tradition of protest sometimes descends into violence

France has a long and proud tradition of mass protests, with demonstrations often becoming a powerful means for people to demand change.

When the French protest high fuel taxes, they don yellow vests and take to the streets. Farmers demanding better pay have driven hundreds of tractors down the Champs-Élysées, while museum workers have gone on strike and closed the Louvre over concerns about managing tourists.

Public protest is deeply rooted in French national identity, much like "La Marseillaise", the 1792 national anthem that reflects the collective duty to resist tyranny.

However, this month's violent demonstrations, among the most serious in years, coupled with a tough police response, have raised concerns that unrest is overshadowing the hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters demonstrating against rising living costs and deteriorating conditions in schools.

On Saturday alone, at least 2,400 people were arrested after rioters in cities across France clashed with police, torched cars, stormed public buildings, looted shops and set a historic city hall ablaze. Further demonstrations could follow.

"How can French people do this to France?" outgoing President Emmanuel Macron asked on Sunday, condemning the destruction.

Nothing could justify the damage, he said, adding, "We all feel anger and shame".

Yet France's history shows that its vocal and colourful protest culture has sometimes descended into violence, dating back to the executions of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette during the revolution that overthrew the monarchy in 1789.

A protest culture takes shape

Historians say the French Revolution helped establish the modern tradition of civic engagement as a public duty. Under this principle, voting is not the only way to bring about change; demonstrations are regarded as a fundamental means of making political elites listen to the public and defending freedoms.

Becoming an activist is seen as a rite of passage passed down through generations, while the right to protest is constitutionally protected.

"It's a way to build collective identity and political community," said Magali Della Sudda, research director in political science at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Bordeaux.

France's post-revolutionary history has not followed a straightforward path of protests leading to reforms. Instead, it has been marked by recurring cycles of popular uprisings, repression, mobilisation and political concessions.

At times, the tradition has ended tragically. In 1871, government troops crushed the newly established Paris Commune, or municipal government, reportedly killing thousands.

Collective action has also brought tangible gains. In 1968, student demonstrations and a general strike forced the government to make concessions, including an increase in the minimum wage.

More recently, the "yellow vest" movement, known in French as "gilets jaunes", began in opposition to a proposed fuel tax increase before expanding to encompass broader concerns over living costs and inequality.

Some demonstrations in 2018 and 2019 involved burning cars, looting and clashes with police. Violence by a minority of participants has frequently marred otherwise peaceful marches in France.

Similarly, student protests over the weekend expanded beyond education to include other grievances, with scenes of looting and confrontations with police.

It remains unclear how many people involved in ransacking shops had joined the demonstrations, which drew tens of thousands of participants, and how many were opportunists taking advantage of the unrest.

Authorities have imposed nightly curfews, while calls have emerged for further protests later in the week.

Police violence fuels public mistrust

Some of the factors driving the latest protests are rooted in more recent developments in France's protest culture, according to political scientist Fabien Jobard, who has studied the history of demonstrations and policing.

Since the 1990s, France has experienced recurring waves of what the French call "violences urbaines", or urban violence, which Americans would describe as riots, Jobard said.

Such unrest is often triggered by police violence. Nationwide disturbances erupted in 2005 after two teenagers died while fleeing police, and again in 2023 after an officer fatally shot a 17-year-old during a traffic stop outside Paris.

"For young people from the suburbs, the riot is one of the traditional forms of collective expression," Jobard said.

Government critics and human rights campaigners have accused police of using unnecessarily violent tactics during the past month.

Much of the criticism has focused on rubber-bullet launchers, known in France as LBDs, and stun grenades, which critics blame for causing serious injuries to protesters.

Della Sudda also pointed out that nearly 8,000 arrests in the weeks leading up to 17 October far exceeded the few dozen detentions recorded during a 1998 protest involving 500,000 students who demonstrated against teacher shortages and deteriorating school facilities.

A growing sense among protesters that their concerns are not being heard is another contributing factor, she said.

For example, instead of listening to demonstrators and negotiating with them, the government attempted to address the grievances of the yellow vest movement through a digital platform known as "the great national debate".

Anti-government protesters dismissed Macron's initiative.

"As a result," Della Sudda wrote, "mistrust is growing".