World Talk Lecture Series: The Gilets jaunes and French Democracy

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Delivered by experts from Cardiff University’s School of Modern Languages, the World Talk Lecture Series is a new series of talks on topics of current interest in various countries around the world. Aimed primarily at AS and A Level students to stimulate interest in, and gain a better understanding of, current political, social and cultural developments around the world, the talks will be approximately 45 minutes in length and be followed by a 30-minute question and answer session.

In this lecture, Dr Nick Parsons will examine the Gilets jaunes movement and democratic processes within France.

Abstract

The Gilets jaunes movement started in November 2018 and since then has seen weekly demonstrations for greater social justice and economic equality across France. While much reporting of the movement has focussed on the economic demands of the protesters, and President Macron's responses to them, a closer examination of the Gilets jaunes movement shows that it is part of a longer-term trend reflecting dissatisfaction with democratic processes within France. As such, it poses a threat to representative democracy, the lessons of which are not confined to France, but should be heeded in other countries facing such crises of legitimacy.

Biography

Nick Parsons completed his PhD, comparing French and British industrial relations, at the London School of Economics. After teaching positions in several French and British universities, he joined the French Department in the University of Cardiff in 1991. He is now Reader in French and teaches courses on translation, French politics and the French labour movement. His research interests focus on French and European politics, industrial relations and social policy. He has published many book chapters and journal articles on these issues and is the author of French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy among other titles.

Simultaneous Translation

The event will be delivered in the medium of English. You are welcome to ask questions in the medium of Welsh during the Q&A session. If you intend to do this, please contact mlang-events@cardiff.ac.uk by Thursday 10 October to request simultaneous translation. Please note that 10% or more of those planning to attend will need to request this provision in order for it to be sourced and will be subject to resource availability.

Registration

We apologise that the entire registration page is not available in the medium of Welsh; unfortunately, the platform we use does not offer this service.