LATTS is pleased to invite you to the next session of its general seminar, which will take place on Monday, January 19, 2026, at 2 p.m. The session will focus on the book Sociologie des Gilets jaunes : reproduction et luttes sociales (Sociology of the Yellow Vests: Reproduction and Social Struggles), published by Éditions Le bord de l'eau in 2024. Antoine Bernard de Raymond and Sylvain Bordiec will present their book, followed by a discussion led by Claire Le Renard, before concluding with a Q&A session.
This session will take place in room B019 (Bienvenüe Building) and will be broadcast via videoconference. Zoom
link: https://univ-eiffel.zoom.us/j/87368732482
Meeting ID: 873 6873 2482
Password: LATTS2025
"The emergence of the Yellow Vests movement on November 17, 2018, took many observers by surprise. How could a call for blockades against a diesel tax mobilize the working classes on such a massive scale? Why did the demands focus on "purchasing power" and "tax justice"? How are the Yellow Vests contributing to a renewal of protest?
This book shows that this revolt is less about conflict in the sphere of production than a crisis of social reproduction among working-class households in peri-urban and rural areas. It thus offers a reinterpretation of the Marxist legacy, beyond questions of production, to highlight the central role of issues of reproduction, which are embedded in the domestic and family sphere. At the roundabouts, the Yellow Vests were able to invent their own ways of protesting, outside the established frameworks of protest, to assert a demand for popular sovereignty in the face of the elites.
The findings of this study thus open up a reflection on how to articulate social issues, lifestyles, and environmental issues in the context of climate change.
"This book takes a fresh look at the Yellow Vests movement and, more generally, at mobilizations in the name of purchasing power, showing how these popular revolts refer to social relations of reproduction rather than relations of production. It thus highlights the central role of the family, women, and intergenerational solidarity in the struggle against the high cost of living. Richly documented by a long-term study combining ethnography, interviews, and statistics, this book also shows the role of roundabouts in the dynamics of a movement without formal organization or official leaders. Finally, it discusses transition policies and the need to take into account the conditions of reproduction of the working classes in order to successfully green our societies."
Book Sociology of the Yellow Vests: Reproduction and Social Conditions