Interview by David Broder

Recent weeks have seen a shock to France’s elites. President Emmanuel Macron’s fuel tax hike sparked widespread protests, with road blockades across the country and violent clashes with police in Paris. The gilets jaunes movement (so named after protesters’ distinctive yellow vests) imposed a humiliating climbdown by the liberal president, who was forced to abandon the tax and raise the minimum wage.

These protests have given voice to often-ignored parts of French society. But while much media has shown its contempt for those involved, the movement has found a vocal ally in Pamela Anderson. The former Baywatch star and Playboy model has spoken out on multiple causes before, from her pro-animal rights work with PETA to her environmental stances and support for earthquake relief in Haiti. Now she has become a keen backer of the revolt against austerity.

In her tweets and blog posts Anderson emphasized the wider importance of the protests, terming them a battle against the “politics represented by Macron and the 99% who are fed up with inequality, not only in France, all over the world.” She similarly responded to claims of protester violence by tweeting “I despise violence . . . but what is the violence of all these people and burned luxurious cars, compared to the structural violence of the French — and global — elites?”

Showing her broad interest in the political upheavals currently gripping the continent, she has in recent days also voiced her support for left-wing UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn while also sharply criticizing Italy’s far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini for his racist agenda.

In an interview with Jacobin’s David Broder, Anderson and philosopher Srećko Horvat discussed the French protests, Europe’s crisis, and Anderson’s own activism.