Pressenza has chosen to publish this email sent by a Chilean humanist to a French humanist, offering an insightful reflection on the forms and meaning of youth protests in France. »
Dear friend, after reading your comments and comparing them with the news circulating about what’s happening these days, I think there’s an important point: your account isn’t simply a description of a student protest. Certain elements suggest that it represents the emergence of a much broader generational sensibility. At times, it reminded me a lot of the student protests in Chile before the 2019 social uprising. I’m trying to form a perspective—an opinion—on this subject, and here’s what I’ve taken away from all the information reaching me.
What is currently happening in France began in a fairly concrete way: young students, mainly from high schools in working-class neighborhoods in the Paris suburbs, began mobilizing to demand better learning conditions.
But very quickly, the movement took on a different dimension. The students are highlighting very concrete problems: absent teachers who aren’t replaced, overcrowded classrooms, dilapidated schools, a lack of resources, infrastructure issues, school days that are too long, difficulties accessing higher education, and enormous pressure regarding their future. They are also questioning the university admissions system, particularly “Parcoursup”, which, in their view, can determine their academic future.
However, behind these concrete demands lies something deeper: the feeling that they do not have the same opportunities as other young French people.
A Movement Born in the Suburbs
Significantly, the protests did not begin in central Paris, as has often been the case in the history of French student movements. They began in the suburbs, particularly in Seine-Saint-Denis and other working-class neighborhoods, where many families with immigrant backgrounds live and where social inequalities are particularly visible.
Young people in these neighborhoods experience discrimination and unequal access to public services firsthand. Some explicitly state that they do not want to be treated as second-class citizens.
A student from Montreuil summed up this sentiment by declaring that they deserved the same opportunities and the same respect as Parisian students, since they take the same high school graduation exam. This is why the demand for educational reform is rapidly evolving into a demand for equality and dignity.
And this is where a particularly interesting development emerges: young people from Paris and other cities—including students from schools considered privileged—have begun to show solidarity with those who launched the movement. In some cases, Parisian high school students have mobilized explicitly to denounce the living conditions in other schools. Even students from prestigious schools have stated that their participation was a form of solidarity with suburban high schools.
This may be significant because it breaks down, at least partially, a deeply entrenched social divide: young people in the suburbs are no longer seen as a problem unique to the suburbs but have become a concern for young people as a whole.
From Concrete Demands to a Question About the Future
There is something that strikes me as particularly significant: young people aren’t just talking about “the school they have”; they’re talking about the life they will have. Education appears to be the gateway to the future. That is why seemingly very concrete issues—an absent teacher, a dilapidated classroom, a class of 35 students, the lack of a nurse’s office, exam pressure—take on a much greater significance.
They aren’t just saying, “We want better schools.” Deep down, they’re saying, “We want to have a future.” ” Many students draw a direct link between their current learning conditions and their prospects, as well as their concerns about the future of their entire generation.
A Movement Marked by Mental Health.
Young people are speaking out about depression, suicidal thoughts, burnout, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and academic pressure. This is not a minor issue. A recent study cited by *Le Monde*, based on nearly 200 interviews and some 7,000 responses from students, highlighted significant levels of sleep deprivation and psychological distress linked to academic demands. Thus, when young people demand better study conditions, they are also demanding better living conditions. This significantly alters the traditional interpretation of the high school student movement. It is not merely a matter of young people wanting “more resources”; they are challenging a way of organizing life that seems to demand ever-greater performance from them while offering them less and less security regarding the future. Repression Changes the Meaning of the Movement. The police response has become another central element. Clashes, fires, destruction, and acts of violence have occurred.
These things have happened, and we should not hide them. But there is also massive peaceful mobilization—assemblies, songs, dances, solidarity, and the participation of students, teachers, and parents. The police response has also resulted in injuries, including to minors.
The most serious case reported to date occurred on October 5, when a 15-year-old student lost a hand during a police operation in Lens. Several investigations are underway into incidents related to police actions. The situation has reached such a point that, on October 7, the government announced the temporary suspension of the use of certain police grenades during demonstrations.
According to the latest data released today, the number of arrests exceeds 6,000, many of which involve minors, although the figures and their classification have changed rapidly. This is important because repression can lead to a shift in the original purpose of the protests. A young person who took to the streets to protest the absence of their teacher may end up asking:
“Why, when I’m fighting for my future, is the response the police?”
And so, the issue is no longer limited to the field of education alone.
Parents and Teachers
Here we see another phenomenon that you’ve observed firsthand and that strikes me as particularly interesting. Some adults are frightened by the destruction and fires. But there are also parents and teachers who physically stand between the police and the students to protect them.And some adults go even further: they claim that these young people are expressing something that they themselves had stopped trying to express. This gives rise to a sort of reunion between generations. Young people are mobilizing adults.Adults, in turn, are beginning to recognize in these young people a concern that is also their own. And so, the protest ceases to be exclusively a “student” one.
The Issue of Violence
This point requires a delicate approach. There have been fires, destruction, clashes with the police, and acts of violence. Some were carried out by students, while others were committed by people outside the movement; the specific responsibilities are the subject of controversy, and it is inappropriate to attribute them collectively to all protesters. The authorities themselves have reported the presence of outsiders during certain incidents, while the students maintain that images of violence obscure the largely peaceful nature of their demands. But there is another dimension that comes through in the protests you describe: joy. Singing, dancing, flags, humor, slogans, and socializing. This is very significant, because it means that the mobilization is not fueled solely by anger. There is anger + hope + the desire to be together. And this combination is different from a protest based exclusively on rejection. France, the Far Right, and the Question of the Nation.
Another point you raise deserves special attention. Some young people are protesting against the far right and against fascism, but they also sing the national anthem. This breaks down a dichotomy that might seem simplistic: France vs. immigrants, patriotism vs. the left, and the nation vs. diversity.
Young people from the suburbs are saying, in a way: “We, too, are France.”They do not necessarily reject the French nation; they are demanding that the promise of equality enshrined in the Republic—liberty, equality, fraternity—apply to them as well.
This is why it is particularly interesting to note that young people from families of diverse origins are getting involved by drawing on a French identity while at the same time challenging the discrimination they face. This is not simply a matter of asserting identity. It is a debate about what it means to be part of France. And politics comes into play. Naturally, a movement of this magnitude cannot be separated from politics.
La France Insoumise has actively supported the protests, and some of its leaders and lawmakers have participated directly. The government, for its part, has accused certain factions within this political force of attempting to exploit the movement—an accusation the students reject. Other groups that define themselves as progressive or left-wing have begun to align themselves with the movement; I hope these organizations won’t help to slow this momentum, as happened here in 2019.
And this is where a question you raise very well comes into play:
Is politics supporting the movement, or is it trying to take it over?
It’s too early to say. And that may be precisely one of the most interesting points to watch. Because young people seem to have their own demands and do not necessarily want to become the electoral base of a political force.
The 2027 election adds another dimension.
The French presidential election will take place on April 18, 2027, with a runoff on May 2. This mobilization is therefore taking place just a few months before a decisive presidential election, but it would be a mistake to reduce it to a pre-election campaign. The movement began before political forces could organize it and emerged from the everyday experiences of students.What may happen, however, is that various political forces will attempt to interpret, channel, or politically exploit what this generation is expressing. And that will undoubtedly be one of the major sources of tension in the coming months.An initial analysis from our humanist perspective I think your observations allow us to go much further; as a proposal, I would identify seven elements from our humanist perspective.
1. Young people appear as subjects, not as objects.
This is perhaps the most striking element. These young people are not simply asking adults to solve their problems. They are speaking out. And from the perspective of universalist humanism, this is fundamental: recognizing the human being as the subject of their own story.
2. The concrete demand is also a demand for dignity
Decent restrooms, a teacher, a classroom that isn’t falling apart, a health clinic, the opportunity to study. These are not mere administrative requests. They are the minimum conditions necessary for a person to thrive.
Equality then ceases to be an abstraction and becomes: “I want to have the same opportunities to lead my life as anyone else.”
3. The future emerges as a collective concern
This is perhaps what strikes me as the most powerful aspect of everything you’re saying. When such a young generation mobilizes, the question inevitably arises:what kind of world are we building for those who will come after us?And this ties directly into the humanist concern for future generations.It’s not just about defending the present. It’s about “opening up the future.”
4. Psychological suffering ceases to be an individual problem
This point closely aligns with a humanist critique of our times. If thousands of young people are suffering from anxiety, depression, burnout, insomnia, or suicidal thoughts, it’s not enough to say that each individual must “adapt.”There may be a link between this suffering and the social conditions in which people live. The question then changes: What kind of society are we building if a generation that is just beginning to live feels unable to face its future?
5. Solidarity Transcends Differences
To me, what you describe regarding solidarity between young people in the suburbs and those in Paris is perhaps one of the most interesting phenomena, because that’s where the “This problem doesn’t concern me” mindset is shattered. And that’s when the idea emerges: “What happens to another young person concerns me too. ” This is much closer to a humanistic sensibility than to mere collective demands.
6. Mobilization Revives Joy
This is no small matter. The presence of dance, song, humor, connections, and joy at the heart of the conflict is important.
A mobilization based exclusively on hatred may end up reproducing the very thing it is fighting against.
On the other hand, a movement that combines outrage with joy, criticism with connection, and conflict with hope holds another possibility.
This is where the idea of active nonviolence comes to the fore. Not as passivity, but as the ability to transform outrage into action without turning the other into an absolute enemy.
7. A question of meaning may be emerging
And this, for me, is the most profound question. Perhaps these young people do not yet have a fully formed political platform. Perhaps they do not have a program either. Perhaps their slogans are contradictory. This is not necessarily a weakness.
It may mean that an experience is emerging, one that has not yet taken concrete form as a political and/or existential position. This experience could be expressed as follows: “We don’t want to live like this.” And the next question would be: “How do we want to live?” This is where a journey begins—a truly humanistic question.
After sorting through everything you’ve told me, I wouldn’t define this phenomenon simply as “a French student movement.” I would tentatively put it this way:
A very young generation, born into a society marked by inequality, discrimination, the crisis in public services, and deep uncertainty about the future, is beginning to say that it does not accept these conditions as normal.
And what’s interesting is that this voice is resonating with other generations—parents, teachers, college students, young people from other regions, and people who may have stopped getting involved.
This could explain the feeling you describe, that “this could be the beginning of something very powerful.”
Not because we know what’s going to happen—it would be premature to say that—but because there’s an unusual combination at play: youth + inequality + the future + education + mental health + solidarity + rejection of discrimination + participation from other generations + conflict with authority.
And there’s something else that strikes me as extremely significant: the movement began with those who had the least, and was later joined by those who were better off.
This shift—from “my problem” to “everyone’s problem”—is perhaps one of the most important aspects to observe.
“Which political party will benefit from this movement?”
That’s a question I’d leave open for now.
I wouldn’t ask that question just yet, because there’s another one—of a humanistic nature—that strikes me as far more interesting: What is this generation discovering about itself as it encounters other generations and realizes that its individual problems are, in reality, collective problems?
For if this experience endures—even if the concrete mobilization comes to an end—something may have changed in the consciousness of this generation. And here, I see a very strong connection to our reflections on New Humanism: it is not merely a matter of analyzing what is happening on the political level, but of asking ourselves what new kind of human sensibility is trying to make its way in the midst of a crisis.
