End : 19 January 2026 à 16:00
LATTS is pleased to invite you to the next session of its general seminar, which will take place on Monday 19 January 2026 at 2 pm. The session will focus on the book *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 17 November 2018 took many observers by surprise. How did a call for blockades against a tax on diesel manage to mobilise the working classes on such a massive scale? Why did the demands focus on ‘purchasing power’ and ‘tax justice’? In what way do the Yellow Vests form part of a renewal of protest?
This book shows that this revolt stems less from conflict in the sphere of production than from a crisis in the social reproduction of working-class households in peri-urban and rural areas. It thus offers a reinterpretation of the Marxist legacy, moving beyond questions of production, to highlight the central role of issues of reproduction, embedded within 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 discussion on how to link social issues, lifestyles and environmental concerns in the context of climate change.”
“This book offers a fresh perspective on the Yellow Vests movement and, more broadly, on protests in defence of purchasing power, demonstrating how these popular uprisings reflect 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 highlights the role of roundabouts in the dynamics of a movement with no formal organisation or official leader. 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: The Sociology of the Yellow Vests: Reproduction and Social Issues
