[Online] panel discussion: What's going on in France? June 13, 2023

What on earth is going on in France? Pension reform, protests, and the consequences. Panel discussion with Kolja Lindner and Hélène Miard-Delacroix

France was in turmoil. The debate over pension reform kept the country on edge for months. After the president pushed through the reform even without parliamentary approval, there were strikes, demonstrations, and riots. At times, the protests turned into outright violence. Members of parliament were threatened in a targeted manner. Even within parliament, one tumultuous scene followed another. What on earth is going on in France? Is the reform a matter of common sense, an adjustment to reality that is rejected by political extremists? Or does it exacerbate social inequality? Can the escalation be explained by polarizing procedures and institutions, or by the president’s style? Is the anger toward the government an outburst of frustration that has been building up for years? What will the long-term consequences be?

Hélène Miard-Delacroix is a professor of contemporary German history and culture at the Sorbonne; Kolja Lindner teaches in the Department of Political Science at the University of Paris X.

Together, we wanted to gain a better understanding of how to interpret the events in France appropriately.

Organized by the Network of University Centers for France and the Francophonie in Germany as part of the online series “German-French Perspectives in Dialogue,” an initiative of the Center for France at the Free University of Berlin, the Ernst Robert Curtius Center (CERC) at the University of Bonn, the Center for France/Francophonie at TU Dresden, and the IZKT at the University of Stuttgart.

WHEN? June 13, 2023, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE? Online