Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité

It would seem the French are at it again. Shouting, screaming mobs of protestors have taken to the streets and widespread union strikes have contributed to a growing sense of panic across the country. Such 'official' protests have been coupled with nationwide blockades at schools and universities, as well as continuing strikes at oil refineries. Anger and frustration have inevitably bred violence and disorder -  and cars and buildings have been torched in cities across the nation in a chilling echo of the Paris riots of 2005.

Despite the uproar in France, however, the opinion of the international community remains on the sceptical side - after all, the French are renowned for their political volatility manifested in their love of protests and strikes (or "manifs" as they are fondly known), and other countries are used to looking on in bemusement as strikers periodically bring France to a veritable standstill. Indeed, from the perspective of countries such as Britain and Germany, where the retirement age is set to rise to 67 (if it hasn't already), the meagre two-year increase proposed by President Sarkozy hardly seems reason enough to protest at all, let alone to effectively bring a whole country to its knees. Radio four's Today Programme this morning hosted a lively discussion on the differences in attitude between the French and the English when it comes to political activism - the conclusion of which seemed to be that it was somehow "in our genes" to display differing levels of interest and/or outrage when it comes to governmental reforms. There may well be an element of truth to this. Having studied the history of French political thought and even lived in Paris for a year, I am all too aware of the fact that the French and the English simply have very different views when it comes to the role of the political elite. The French revolution still holds a large sway over the national psyche, and in many ways the government is still seen as a straw man that has been put in place by the people, for the people. The government may well have the international clout, but it is the people and the population at large that hold the true power in French politics. In Britain the sentiment is very different. We see parliament as being the elected representative of the population - we have delegated our power to the government and it is therefore the politicians, and not the people, who usually have the last say on any political matter. After all, that is what the government is for.

This may well all be true, but is there something more to the current unrest taking place in France that goes beyond a conception of the role of governmental power? Robert Redeker has probably hit the nail on the head in his article for Le Monde when he says that "la retraite" has become a sort of "myth" for the French that symbolises a form of 'heaven on earth' - for them it is, in effect, their reward for a lifetime of drudgery and toil. This is why there has been such a backlash against the government's attempts to reform the current retirement age: not because of this particular reform per se, but because of what this reform represents. By changing the retirement age from 60 to 62, Sarkozy has effectively shattered the beautiful illusion of retirement as a golden age of relaxation and prosperity that is guaranteed to all citizens by the state. He has shown that the current retirement age is not something that is set in stone, or indeed enshrined in any way from future reforms, and in so doing has brought the entire population down to earth with a bump from their reverie of long summer evenings, rocking chairs and mini golf.

It is an interesting theory, and one that is particularly compelling if you consider the French love of intellectual philandering and philosophical daydreaming (having read Philosophy at the Sorbonne, I feel I am in a position to be able to comment on this particular and peculiar aspect of the French national psyche). Understood from this perspective, the current crisis is brought into focus from a whole new perspective: the protesters are not just attempting to save the current age of retirement from the governmental axe, they are also trying to preserve a social and political dream that is being threatened by such reforms. The problem lies in the fact that it is a dream which is incompatible with the contemporary global financial crisis - and one that is likely to be rendered redundant in the coming years of fiscal reform. But the French are not willing to give up so easily, and they will go down fighting.

http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2010/10/20/la-retraite-agonie-d-un-mythe-francais_1428758_3232.html