Social protests | “End of the contemporary era”

Demonstration against rising living costs in Paris Photo: dpa/Thibault Camus It seems as if the wind is changing. After the global shift to the right, there is suddenly talk of social demands and struggles again. In mid-September, a protest by young people against the underfunding of their schools and excessive military spending began on the outskirts of Paris. Within days, the protest expanded into a nationwide student uprising. There were protests and blockades at 1,000 schools and dozens of universities.

Almost simultaneously, a protest movement against unaffordable rents and the profits of real estate funds emerged in the Spanish capital Madrid following the forced eviction from an 87-year-old's apartment. Here, too, the movement quickly spread throughout the country. The public pressure became so great that the Spanish government introduced a law to protect tenants in parliament and - after a defeat in the vote - called new elections.

Since then, things have happened in quick succession: in France, yellow vests, trade unionists, eco-groups and migrants, who are on average more severely affected by poverty, have joined the students. The example is being followed in Belgium and Italy, where the worst riots in years occurred due to the high cost of living. There are also reports of unrest against the privileges of the rich in Albania: the protests that had been going on for months against the privatization of a nature reserve for the benefit of the Trump family turned into unrest. In Serbia, a protest movement overthrew the Vučić government, and in Portugal, places were occupied because of unaffordable rents.

General strikes are imminent in France, Spain and Italy in November.

The unions are now also mobilizing: for October 30th, port workers in 17 countries are organizing blockades against arms deliveries to Israel and elsewhere. A general strike followed in France on November 5th, one in Spain on the 11th, and a third in Italy on the 20th. And the Belgian unions are calling for a nationwide day of protest on November 23rd.

When was the last time there was a comparable wave in Europe? And when was the last time the extreme right, which likes to claim to be the “system opposition,” exposed itself like this? Everywhere it stands reliably at the side of the powerful: the employers' associations, real estate funds and police commands. In Spain, right-wing extremists have attacked tenant protests and called for more leniency from real estate companies. In France, they formed gangs of thugs who, as videos show, attacked protesters with the backing of the police. The extreme right and the middle class are practicing solidarity.

“Gloire à la révolte” – “Glory of the Revolt” is the motto from the French eco-movement Soulèvements de la Terre. She's right. Because for the first time in a long time, the aggression is no longer directed against homeless people, black people, trans people or migrants, but against social conditions. And that's exactly why violence is talked about so much. Of course not about the violence of the police, who in France shot out the eye of a 16-year-old, the hand of a 15-year-old and shattered the jaw of a 14-year-old. Or about the violence of racism: In the town of Trappes, on the western edge of Paris, a right-wing man shot at a group of non-whites, injured five people and murdered a black Frenchman.

Social protests continue despite these attacks and despite the imposition of curfews. On Friday, the yellow vests want to take to the streets to “make the government tremble.” Some people say that “the end of the contemporary era” is imminent. It's about time: after decades in which there was no alternative to austerity, there is suddenly talk of the future again. For that reason alone, one cannot speak well enough about the protesters.

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