Creative protesters in France: “If you don't understand us when we speak, then we'll sing!”

No pensioners, on a burning planet. Pensions, climate, same fight. It was the same system that we were fighting, the system that wanted to make people work for longer, is the same system that wants us to work, work, work, produce, produce, produce. And we never ask ourselves why we want to produce. The idea was to use techno, and to maybe revolutionise a little bit, the way in which we protest. There are as many ways of protesting as there are people, so we can all find a way of protesting that

suits us. I'm Samuele Maccolini, I'm in Paris. Strolling down these boulevards has always had great charm but these streets can sometimes turn into trenches. In 2023, the demonstrations against the pension reform sparked a huge collective movement. We're going to meet the people who brought it to life by dancing and singing. Let's go. Do you remember this video? No pensioners on a burning planet! Pensions, climate, same fight! Mathilde Caillard's techno dance went viral even beyond France. With

this song, Alternatiba united the social struggle with the environmental one because, as the song says, "you can't have pensioners on a burning planet". Now let's see if Mathilde still remembers the choreography. "Hi!" "Hi Mathilde!" Welcome to Alternatiba Paris. Why do you think your video went viral? We were going through quite a difficult time in France, where we'd been demonstrating for a month or two and a lot of people were on strike. Maybe there was a little feeling of desperation and I t

hink it gave people hope. We said to ourselves we often demonstrate in France for lots of different reasons, and using techno and maybe revolutionising the way in which we protest would attract more people and there wouldn't just be the same people once again, with the same activists who are used to demonstrating. We would perhaps attract a new type of public, notably young people who listen to a lot of techno music, who might come, at first because they are attracted to the idea of doing like a

techno parade, and in fact, once they arrive, they are exposed to the political discourse behind it, and they read people's posters, they read everything that is written around them. And in fact, it's a way of getting people involved in the politics of it and bringing people in by touching them emotionally. Lots of people didn't neccessarily understand to begin with, because they thought because I danced, it wasn't serious. When you fight, when you resist, there's something joyful about it, the

re's something powerful. We refuse to give in, we refuse to sacrifice ourselves, we refuse to stay in the shaddows, where the system wants to keep us. There's something about... regaining power, demonstration. And in fact, it really inspired people, people who had lost hope, people who thought that demonstrating wasn't for them, who were scared of demonstrating. In France, there is lots and lots of police violence during protests and in the end it has worked. Lots of people got back to us, lots

of people wrote to me and said "It's given me new hope", "Now, I've gone back to demonstrating" "even though I've never been, or I didn't want to go anymore." I brought with me, the clothes that I wear for demonstrations. This is the Alternatiba Paris jumper. That's the name of the organisation I'm part of in Paris, and we also wore these sunglasses, that we put on when we danced. So that's the music we created during the protests against the pension reform. To begin with it was a political slog

an which just said "no pensioners, on a burning planet", "pensions, climate, same fight". And in fact, the aim was to explain that they couldn't impose a pensions reform and make people work for longer and longer whilst we're in a ... (there, that's exactly what it's saying) in a world that is in the process of collapsing and where in fact there is no future at all, because there is no future for the climate. And so it's exactly what we were saying, "no pensioners on a burning planet", "pensions

, climate, same fight". And it was to explain that it was the same system that we were fighting, the system that wants to force people to work for longer, it's the same system that wants us to work, work, work, produce, produce, produce. And we never ask ourselves why we want to produce. And we also talk about taxing the rich because one of the ways in which we can finance an ambitious green transition and a world in which can all live better, is to share. And sharing means taxing the people wit

h the most money, the super rich, the billionaires, who, today, benefit from huge advantages and who don't share enough of their wealth. And so we also say "tax the rich", voilà. We want to tax the rich, we will tax the rich, we want to tax the rich, we will tax the rich. Can we effectively unite during demonstrations without necessarily resorting to violence? It's about resisting and protesting using a means which shows people what we're fighting for, it's more moving, it's more desirable, it's

more appealing. There is a long history between music and activism, of rebelling, of fighting for social causes. Historically, the techno movement was a subculture movement of oppressed people. It was a queer movement, it was a movement led by people who were rejected, who were ostracized from society, and the techno and free party movement, was a space where everyone was welcome. So it was a space for reclaiming, of freedom, of self-expression too. It was a lovely gesture to reuse techno today

, in 2023, in the context of the fight for both the climate and also social issues, for living conditions, for salaries, for the retirement age. There are as many ways of protesting as there are people. Therefore, we can all find a way that suits us, to protest. And I think that's what people liked about it as well, the realisation that, in fact, we don't have to stay in the shackles of the status quo, I can break ranks and protest my own way. I think that also really appealed to people. "Thank

you Mathilde." "Thank you." "Bye bye." "See you next time." During the demonstrations in France there wasn't just dancing to techno music. Demonstrators in blue overalls from the feminist collective Les Rosies invented choreography for groups of people. We're going to go and meet them. "Hello." "Ciao, ciao." "Welcome" This here is a room, a workshop, where we build the props for our protests. And so this is the birthplace of the Les Rosies processions in France. And so you can see here for examp

le, the giant Rosie which is on our trucks during the marhces. Who is Rosie? So Rosie, is a character inspired by Rosie the Riveter, who is a character from the United States. She's the famous... the famous character that we see doing that, on American posters. So the idea is that she is wearing blue overalls like me, blue work overalls and a red headscarf, which is a direct reference to the Amercian figure, Rosie the Riveter. And then some cleaning gloves, to reference the second job that women

do, when they come home from work. And that's to say "we don't want retirement at 64 years old." We are strong, we are proud! and feminist, and radical, and angry! We created the Rosies specifically for this event, for these six months of demonstrations. We said to ourselves, we've got to bring the specific subject of feminism to the demonstrations, because work is not just associated with men, women work too, women work more than men, since they actually work during the day at their jobs, and

then in the evening or on the weekend at home, doing domestic work. And so we said to each other, in fact, pensions is a womens fight, because women suffer all their lives at work, and also when they have children, and then in retirement these inequalities are increased, since their careers have been cut back, meaning they have disrupted careers that are interrupted by the fact that they have children to take care of. Often they do part-time jobs to be able to continue looking after their childr

en. Can I see one of your choreographies? I'm going to talk to you about the choreograpy for the Gala song. So the idea is that, at the beginning we are in the process of... there are lots of fighting movements like that, we break something over our knees and then we say that the government is lying. So we say, it's all just talk, just bla bla bla, stop your bla bla bla. We also have a lot of things like that like, "we won't accept it" And then we have a lot of things like that, with the raised

fist. With the yellow gloves, we can clearly see what's going on during the demonstrations. So we have things that lift up, like that, up there, and then it comes down to the side, and we repeat the same movements over and over, because it has to be very simple, so that anyone can learn the moves and feel able to dance. Pa-pa-pa-la-pa. Yeah, when we dance we're stronger. When we dance together, we're stronger in fact. And so dance is our way of occupying the space, of using our bodies, but not u

sing our bodies for entertainement. That's really important. We're not there so that people can watch us and admire us. We're there to show our strength, our collective strength, together, our strength and our determination in the demonstrations to carry our fight. Our last protagonist of French protests doesn't dance, but instead plays the guitar. Laurent has lead marches with his songs, sung at the top of their voices, by his fellow trade unionists. We don't want any more gimmicks! Hi Laurent!

"Hi! How are you?" "Good thanks. Happy to meet you." Welcome. Why can playing the guitar become a creative form of protesting? We have the musical compotent, which is kind of like our trademark, we have developped the habit of pinching from international and French pop and rock songs and applying them to current social issues. There are a lot of very heavy issues at the moment, and it's how we create a contrast with these heavy subjects. Our lyrics are very serious but with a humouristic tone w

hich allows, without going so far as to say "we go to marches to party", with regards to the image, as well as the violence which can develop at demonstrations, but to try and offer a way for our comrades to join us at the demonstrations, in a nice atmosphere, and to have a nice time together, but also to shout out in the street, the things that aren't listened to. That's what's important for us. Young people who come and say to us, hey, can we have your songbook? Can we come and sing with the m

icrophone? That's also what's important, to keep the flame alive. Yes, in the fight. We are, everyday. So come on, we'll show them! That plus that, before our numbers must be strengthened. We have about 40 or so songs, which have been used in about 10 demonstrations in Paris, down the big streets. And then, in technical terms, we have, in terms of capacity, let's say, guitars of this type, so that we can play live music. That's also what attracts the audience. We don't just put on pre-recorded s

ongs. And then, what's left to say? Just that people really appreciate having some live music. We also have percussion instruments which are spread through the crowd, to accompany the live music. Retirement, zombies, zombies, zombies, eh eh eh. You can't forget that, of course, the main way to resist is not going out into the streets or singing in the streets. It's to have an impact on the economy. So the first lesson, is to use all means, including strikes, when necessary. That's what establish

es the balance of power and what allows you to win. So, if our alternative expression in a musical mode, can reinforce, including the ability of friends to say I'm not alone when I go and demonstrate, there are people there, and, in a way, you have a good time, which allows us to get into the company, to support the social movement within the company. In any case, we hope we've shown you today that effectively, there are other alternative means which aren't, as I said, neccessarily an end in the

mselves, but which are complimentary means of reinforcing the fraternity in a social movement, to allow us to resist in the face of the different attacks which threaten our rights today, with a clear line of conduct: they don't understand when we talk, so we're going to sing to them. That's our watchword. So we consider that this way, if, of course, it doesn't exclude all the others, is an extra card in our hand, for the resistance, social resistance.