Police have begun to dismantle some of the camps across France and Belgium where activists have joined together to occupy public spaces and discuss their vision of a new future.



The youth-led Nuit debout movement, which grew out of protests against labour reforms, has been holding night-time sit-ins and debates nationwide since 31 March, earning praise from figures such as William Martinet, leader of the students’ union Unef.

Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, has responded to some of their concerns by announcing €500m in subsidies for students and young workers.



We asked people involved in the movement – which has no leader or official spokesperson – to tell us why they joined some of its events, what they saw when they were there and what might be next.

‘We want a society built on something else than just profit and money-making’

What is happening in France right now with Nuit debout is very important because it expresses the ras-le-bol (to me, fed-upness) of French people as far as political representation is concerned. Basically, it’s all the people who have leftwing sympathies but who feel betrayed by leftwing mainstream political parties. But it’s also more than that, in the sense that many of the people I spoke to in and around these assemblies never voted or don’t want to vote any more.

I decided to attend in Lyon, at Place Guichard, and Clermont-Ferrand, at Place de Jaude, and intend to go to Paris in the coming days, because politicians do not represent in any way the aspirations of the people. We want a society built on something other than just profit and money-making.

At the events people debate in a peaceful way on many issues. The common ground is the idea that there is more to human life than what is in store according to the people supposed to govern us. The meetings start with general assemblies, where people can speak about whatever issue they think is paramount. Then, small groups gather around different thematic issues such as democracy, action, feminism, ecology, work, etc. Proposals are regularly put up to vote.

K Ivanovitch, 38, near Lyon

‘Never before had I felt so involved in democracy’

I attended my first Nuit debout in Brussels on the 6 April (37 March in Nuit debout’s symbolic calendar, which aims to continue the ‘moment’ of 31 March). I decided to take the train there because I finally felt like my voice could be heard and something really significant could be done not just for one group of oppressed people but for all of them at the same time. It’s called la convergence des luttes (the meeting point of struggles).

When I reached Place des Barricades, where the Nuit debout was taking place, it was only getting started. There were so few people at that time that it was very easy to take the microphone. A few people and I spoke up about the creation of a committee whose job would be to determine where else the sit-in could take place, and a motion to move the sit-in to Mont-des-Arts, right in the centre of the city, was adopted. It might seem like a boring detail to most people but that was the time I realised how much power everyone had in the Nuit debout.



I had spoken up about one issue I had (the dissatisfaction with our small, isolated location) and had it fixed in just a few hours. Never before had I felt so involved in democracy. I know a different paradigm is possible and I know if it can work out its problems (lack of Europe-wide organisation, lack of a long-term action plan, etc), Nuit debout has a good shot at taking the system down and fixing it. Going to Brussels every day is not a possibility for me but I’m getting involved in discussions to organise Nuits debout in my province, Hainaut. I am positive this movement is a step in the right direction and that even if it doesn’t directly lead to anything, it will leave its mark in people’s minds.

Elie, student, 20, Mons, Belgium

‘The movement has widespread support, but right now anything could happen’



I have been involved since the beginning – we first took to the streets on 9 March as part of a union and student strike against the new French labour laws. After the second strike, on 31 March, a group of protesters and collectives decided not to go home and called for an occupation of the Place de République called #Nuitdebout. It is now entering day 12.

Like Occupy Wall Street and Indignados (an anti-austerity movement in Spain) we are part of an ongoing wave of mobilisations that seeks to challenge the rule of the 1% by taking back public space and creating a glimpse of a better world. The beauty of the square occupation model is that it enables people to engage politically and express themselves in myriad ways. This was on display at the Place de la République in Paris over the weekend, when a group of friends built a wooden house in just under an hour, while Congolese migrants sang revolutionary songs about French colonialism and a late-night debate took place on economic and labour policy.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A makeshift medical clinic at Nuit debout in Paris. Photograph: Sam Cossar/@samcossar

On Monday (11 April) police evicted us from the square and demolished community gardens, a public library and free kitchens that had been established. In the evening protesters retook the square, but there was a much stronger police presence. On Tuesday police stopped food and sound equipment entering the Place de la République in an attempt to break up the movement, but some tents and supplies were able to get through.

Now anything could happen. The weekend showed that the movement has widespread support, with massive demonstrations on Saturday and tens of thousands of people attending public assemblies, commissions, workshops and concerts on Sunday, but the challenge is to maintain and build on the momentum by working with other social movements. There will be another general strike on 28 April and plans are being discussed to blockade parliament when the labour law is first discussed.

After the police evicted the square, thousands returned to retake it on a cold, wet Monday night. That is a good sign this movement is here to stay, but who knows where it will lead.

Sam Cossar, 27, environmental activist, Paris



Larnell

‘I’ve seen workers rights violations in the US and don’t want to see the same in my adopted country’



I’m originally from the United States and I’ve been going to the protests because of what I see as the root of frustrations with French labour laws – the slow encroachment of US-style workers’ rights. I used to work in Chicago earning $10 an hour and working full-time. My rent was about half my take-home income and I lived in a neighbourhood that regularly experienced gunshots. I’ve experienced the worst of the precarity workers experience in the US, with my colleagues being fired on the spot under right-to-work laws in Illinois, and I just don’t want the same thing to happen here in my adopted country.

I also participate because I feel the need to participate in the political process. I studied political science in university, and I’ve grown totally apart from the rhetoric that was regularly expoused during my time in study. I want to be able to affect the world around me, and participating in these protests is finally giving me an outlet.

The first night that I attended the debates was on the so-called 40th of March. It was right after the big protest in downtown Lyon and I think many people were agitated, and it didn’t lead to a lot of productivity in discussion. However, on 11 April I went with my boyfriend and participated in amazing discussions with perfect strangers. It reminded me of the close-knit environment of university in the US and the dorm-room debates of the 2008 elections. The event is highly organised: there is even a kitchen, supplied by items from supermarkets and bakeries at the end of the day. In the coming days I hope to participate in the daytime events such as collecting bread and talking to people in the streets.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Day five of the protest in Paris. The phrase convergence des luttes expresses solidarity with other causes. Photograph: Sam Cossar/@samcossar

The future hinges on two factors: the response of the government to the situation, and the ability of the movement to coalesce around a set of defined principals and objectives. The movement is extremly young, and at the moment many people are discovering themselves as active participants in a large group for the very first time. As the movement continues, talents will be discovered and I think that the frustrations most people generally feel will be much better channeled into a more concrete and stable political and social movement.

Larnell, 26, teacher, Lyon

‘People on their soapbox in Lyon were essentially preaching to the choir’

I attended in Lyon on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April (both had over 1,000 people in attendance) because I thought it’d be fun to see what was happening and to listen to the various talks. The event had many different “commissions” about varied topics like housing, education, universal benefit, pay and feminism. These consisted of people getting on their soapbox and saying stuff that everyone already believed: effectively preaching to the choir.



The style of the commissions didn’t let people respond to what was said because everyone had to get in line to speak by putting up their hand and then waiting until it was their turn. After the commissions were finished there was then an assemble générale in which each commission told everyone what was decided. In fact this turned out to be just a place to talk about the organisation of the Nuit debout and complain about stuff. Throughout the whole assembly hardly any policies or thoughts linked to the ideas of the movement were expressed, so it was a bit disappointing.

Richard, 26, teacher, Lyon

‘It’s a beginning, but it really seems to be a determined one’

I attended five of the general assemblies/sit-ins because Nuit debout seemed primarily in response to the new labour laws, which to me are unacceptable. But the debates and discussions are going much further.



Nuit debout protesters occupy French cities in revolutionary call for change Read more

It is now about everything that goes wrong with societies, in France but also of course everywhere. It is about profit domination and its consequences, and about irresponsible exploitation of Earth’s natural and human resources.I think one of the common reasons for everyone to be here is that our societies prevent most people from making sense of their lives. We are given no other choice but to be in collusion with a system that creates a catastrophic social and ecological situation.

It seems that most people here don’t want to accept that any more. We want to act, to get involved and make things change because the leaders are not doing it, and it seems that if we want things to change by ourselves, it has to happen first with gathering, talking and learning to get to know each other on a bigger scale, with tolerance and without discrimination so we can build up strong ties about what we agree on, which values the society we want need to be built upon. It’s a beginning, but it really seems to be a determined one.

Name withheld, 34, Paris

