Voice of the People: Radio By and For the 99%
Nov 3, 2026 · 1 hr 49 min · 10 segments
Our Word of the Week is “Internationalism”, and we will look at what it means. On that theme we report on the protests in France, how the European Union is prompting protests throughout Europe, the…
Mark AnderlikHost
Linda GillisonHost
Lucas MoodyCollette BergGuest
Nathan StephensGuest
Robbie Lieben
While there have been protests the past month throughout Europe, we'll focus just now on France.
Well, I'm going to read one account from Claire Lompen's article entitled Four Lessons the U.S. Can Learn from the Youth Protests in France.
And I quote, since mid-September, students in metropolitan France have been mobilizing against poor conditions in public high schools.
The mouvement lycéen has spread from a single campus in a Parisian suburb to include high schoolers and university students nationwide.
with public sector workers, climate activists, labor unions, and everyday people joining in solidarity.
The unifying concerns have largely centered on the climbing cost of daily life, shrinking funds for social services, and general anxiety about the future.
For two weekends running, France has seen hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets.
First on 17 October, when a day of largely peaceful gatherings ended in looting and vandalism.
Then on 24 October, as the state met the movement with aggressive policing and protest bans intended to keep people at home.
But curfews, tear gas, and sweeping arrests as well as the racist characterizations of the protesters as being primarily immigrants, have not been enough to deter the students.
On Monday, they won their first government concessions, $4.45 billion in government loans for the renovation of rundown buildings, more university spaces, more teachers, and other administrative changes.
Calling these crumbs, a spokesperson for the L'Union Etudiante, the National University Student Union, vowed to keep fighting.
More actions are scheduled for 31 October, with the national strike called for 5 November.
Yeah, and I might say that the... their issues that they're protesting sound very familiar to us here in the United States.
One thing that struck me when I was reading this article was that they began with school students, high school students, I guess, in the suburbs, but the suburbs of Paris are not necessarily like suburbs in American cities.
That is, the suburbs are often more like housing developments or something like that.
And the suburbs around Paris can be more crowded, often filled with immigrants, and that's where the protests begin.
While there have been protests the past month throughout Europe, we'll focus just now on France.
Well, I'm going to read one account from Claire Lompen's article entitled Four Lessons the U.S. Can Learn from the Youth Protests in France.
And I quote, since mid-September, students in metropolitan France have been mobilizing against poor conditions in public high schools.
The mouvement lycéen has spread from a single campus in a Parisian suburb to include high schoolers and university students nationwide.
with public sector workers, climate activists, labor unions, and everyday people joining in solidarity.
The unifying concerns have largely centered on the climbing cost of daily life, shrinking funds for social services, and general anxiety about the future.
For two weekends running, France has seen hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets.
First on 17 October, when a day of largely peaceful gatherings ended in looting and vandalism.
Then on 24 October, as the state met the movement with aggressive policing and protest bans intended to keep people at home.
But curfews, tear gas, and sweeping arrests as well as the racist characterizations of the protesters as being primarily immigrants, have not been enough to deter the students.
On Monday, they won their first government concessions, $4.45 billion in government loans for the renovation of rundown buildings, more university spaces, more teachers, and other administrative changes.
Calling these crumbs, a spokesperson for the L'Union Etudiante, the National University Student Union, vowed to keep fighting.
More actions are scheduled for 31 October, with the national strike called for 5 November.
Yeah, and I might say that the... their issues that they're protesting sound very familiar to us here in the United States.
One thing that struck me when I was reading this article was that they began with school students, high school students, I guess, in the suburbs, but the suburbs of Paris are not necessarily like suburbs in American cities.
That is, the suburbs are often more like housing developments or something like that.
And the suburbs around Paris can be more crowded, often filled with immigrants, and that's where the protests begin.
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