How Economic Inequality Fuels the Rise and Persistence of the Yellow Vest Movement

Abstract

Our analysis explores the rise of the Yellow Vest movement as a collective response to perceptions of growing levels of economic inequality in France whereby collective action is triggered by the perceived illegitimacy of the growing gap between the 'haves' and 'have-nots'. We highlight different psychological processes that might explain why concerns about economic inequality have become more salient. We focus on two dynamics in particular: (a) President Macron's perceived alignment with the elites and disconnection from ordinary French people, and (b) historically dominant collective narratives that frame growing inequality as breaking with long-standing values and norms of equality. Both processes enhance 'us' (the victims) versus 'them' (the elite and those that are not true to national values of equality) categorizations along wealth lines whereby, 'us' becomes a broad category. To explain why the movement continues to go strong, we focus on ongoing intergroup processes (i.e., the police response, lack of support from intellectuals and the middle class) and intragroup processes (i.e., the movement brings together all those who self-categorise as victims of inequality, uniting those that may at other times be seen as 'strange bedfellows'). We conclude that a proper understanding of the way in which economic inequality might divide society creating new intergroup dynamics is essential to understand the Yellow Vest movement.

“Free” Not to Engage: Neoliberal Ideology and Collective Action. The Case of the Yellow Vest Movement

“…Accordingly, politicized identity predicts CA to a greater extent than does non-politicized identity (e.g., Stürmer & Simon, 2004b;van Zomeren et al, 2008). The YV identity is considered here as a politicized identity because it answers to the aforementioned criteria (see also Jetten et al, 2020). 1 To better understand the role of social identity in the YV movement, it is important to distinguish between two types of disadvantages that may drive CA: structural and incidental (van Zomeren et al, 2008).…”

“…On a related note, as Jetten et al (2020) point out, and despite the existence of social inequalities in France (Piketty, 2013), the French identity is historically grounded into a cultural value of equality. As such, Jetten et al (2020) have proposed that besides acting on behalf of the 'have nots', the YV movement also aims to defend historical continuity in the content of the French identity, which is nourished by ideals of equality.…”

“…For instance, this grassroots movement has been largely decentralized, taking place in roundabouts and other local blockade points, alongside the demonstrations in larger cities. Moreover, social media websites, such as Facebook, have served as the mobilizing and coordinative tools of choice, replacing intermediaries such as Trades Unions (Boyer et al, 2019;Jetten, Mols & Selvanathan, 2020;Noiriel, 2018b). Concerning its demands, although the movement originally started because of a rise in fuel taxes, it has rapidly taken the form of a broader denunciation of the political agenda and of the institutions themselves (Boyer et al, 2019).…”

Understanding violent extremism in the 21st century: The (re)emerging role of relative deprivation

“…Such subjective perceptions predict collective mobilization [10], and often are stronger predictors of non-normative forms of protest than more objective types of deprivation [11]. Subjective feelings of relative deprivation do not necessarily mirror objective conditions [see 12,[13][14][15], although they likely are informed by the latter [16]. Interestingly, sometimes both objective and subjective deprivation interactively predict protest.…”

The link between CS gas exposure and menstrual cycle issues among female Yellow Vest protesters in France

“…rubber pellet ammunition launchers) were found to cause severe ocular injuries, sometimes leading to permanent loss of eyesight (Chauvin et al, 2019). Stun grenades and other explosive devices used to disperse crowds have caused mutilation and loss of hands among protesters (Jetten et al, 2020;Paye, 2019). Likewise, it has recently been acknowledged that police use of force and less-lethal weapons could have deleterious effects on participants' mental health (Celebi, Adam-Troian, & Mahfud, 2020) Among the different tools available to law enforcement the most widely used remains Ortho-Chlorobenzylidene Malononitrile, also simply known as CS teargas or teargas.…”