For weeks, signs inspired by internet culture have been proliferating in the demonstrations against French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform. The memes, those images or expressions recycled and twisted in a humorous way (such as “This is Fine,” pronounced by a serene dog in the middle of a fire, or “Drakeposting”) have made their appearance alongside trade union banners. They are also accumulating likes and shares on social media.
“It clearly exploded recently,” said David Peyron, a lecturer in information and communication sciences at the University of Aix-Marseille. “It was a little present with the Yellow Vest protests, but here, we have been seeing a lot of memes, a lot of examples coming from pop culture.”
Although we see more and more cultural references on signs today, the phenomenon is not new: “In the early 2000s, American researchers were already talking about them during demonstrations against the war in Iraq,” Peyron pointed out. “We already had bits and pieces of TV series and excerpts from internet memes from that time. It was still in its infancy, but it has been around since the massive growth of the internet.” On the French side, the author of the 2013 book Culture Geek estimated that such signs began to appear in the early 2010s.
The use of these references is indicative of how involved young people are in the movement against the pension reform. “Even if it should be taken with a pinch of salt, it is an indicator of age and the fact that young people remain committed,” said Peyron. “It is highly generational. Cultural and pop cultural references are very present in the imagination of students and high schoolers today.”
Nowadays it’s just weird to make the distinction. Internet culture is just… culture. It’s part of a common referential landscape. It is not generational. The yellow vests used memes extensively because the movement was born on facebook. It’s not generational, it’s just 2023. People know memes just like they saw the last Marvel movie.
In my country the pension age is 67 and they got nuts about going two years up from 62. France pension funds do have significant problem and they actually need to do this or the pension funds will be empty one day.
Macron stubbornness is stupid.
The French love to demonstrate, they are almost comical
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I think Britain should intervene.
But is the revolution going to pay for their retirements?
Its been too long since last war/revolution, system is corrupt and rotten, people everywhere feel it…its why Trump won.
I live in France..the protests are really dwindling down.
It’s always the same thing:
Legitimate concerns and protests -> ultraviolent rioters infiltrating protests and starting their own war with authority (black blocks etc): burning, throwing rocks, pillaging + police brutality rising > people grow very tired of violence and protest dwindle down
So yes it’s great to protest but nothing is achievable by violence, some reddit armchair activists will say it’s necessary blablabla..Truth is, without that violence you’d see 5-10 more people protesting, pacifically and it’d have a far more powerful effect.
Really, all these modern “revolutions” are stupid. They are making the word feel less important, because they do so much revolutions nobody takes those acts as serious as before.
The french used to be less coward. Now, these “revolts” collapse with some water and police officers. But, some decades ago, they got to threaten the entire government. Now, they are fools compared to what they were.
12 comments
For weeks, signs inspired by internet culture have been proliferating in the demonstrations against French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform. The memes, those images or expressions recycled and twisted in a humorous way (such as “This is Fine,” pronounced by a serene dog in the middle of a fire, or “Drakeposting”) have made their appearance alongside trade union banners. They are also accumulating likes and shares on social media.
“It clearly exploded recently,” said David Peyron, a lecturer in information and communication sciences at the University of Aix-Marseille. “It was a little present with the Yellow Vest protests, but here, we have been seeing a lot of memes, a lot of examples coming from pop culture.”
Although we see more and more cultural references on signs today, the phenomenon is not new: “In the early 2000s, American researchers were already talking about them during demonstrations against the war in Iraq,” Peyron pointed out. “We already had bits and pieces of TV series and excerpts from internet memes from that time. It was still in its infancy, but it has been around since the massive growth of the internet.” On the French side, the author of the 2013 book Culture Geek estimated that such signs began to appear in the early 2010s.
The use of these references is indicative of how involved young people are in the movement against the pension reform. “Even if it should be taken with a pinch of salt, it is an indicator of age and the fact that young people remain committed,” said Peyron. “It is highly generational. Cultural and pop cultural references are very present in the imagination of students and high schoolers today.”
**Read the article here:** [**https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2023/04/06/keep-calm-and-start-a-revolution-how-internet-culture-is-influencing-french-protesters_6021915_5.html**](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2023/04/06/keep-calm-and-start-a-revolution-how-internet-culture-is-influencing-french-protesters_6021915_5.html)
Revolutions are almost always disasters.
Nowadays it’s just weird to make the distinction. Internet culture is just… culture. It’s part of a common referential landscape. It is not generational. The yellow vests used memes extensively because the movement was born on facebook. It’s not generational, it’s just 2023. People know memes just like they saw the last Marvel movie.
In my country the pension age is 67 and they got nuts about going two years up from 62. France pension funds do have significant problem and they actually need to do this or the pension funds will be empty one day.
Macron stubbornness is stupid.
The French love to demonstrate, they are almost comical
[removed]
I think Britain should intervene.
But is the revolution going to pay for their retirements?
Its been too long since last war/revolution, system is corrupt and rotten, people everywhere feel it…its why Trump won.
I live in France..the protests are really dwindling down.
It’s always the same thing:
Legitimate concerns and protests -> ultraviolent rioters infiltrating protests and starting their own war with authority (black blocks etc): burning, throwing rocks, pillaging + police brutality rising > people grow very tired of violence and protest dwindle down
So yes it’s great to protest but nothing is achievable by violence, some reddit armchair activists will say it’s necessary blablabla..Truth is, without that violence you’d see 5-10 more people protesting, pacifically and it’d have a far more powerful effect.
Really, all these modern “revolutions” are stupid. They are making the word feel less important, because they do so much revolutions nobody takes those acts as serious as before.
The french used to be less coward. Now, these “revolts” collapse with some water and police officers. But, some decades ago, they got to threaten the entire government. Now, they are fools compared to what they were.