Renowned sociologist Pınar Selek, recognized for her extensive work in women’s studies, sheds light on the uprising that emerged in France following the tragic killing of 17-year-old migrant Nahel at the hands of the police.
Delving into the global wave of uprisings that unite diverse voices of dissent, Selek offers her analysis on the organizational framework of rights-based movements.
In an interview with Gülseren Onanç, the founding president of SES Equality and Solidarity Association, Selek addressed the consequences of fascist and racist repression in France, often referred to as the “cradle of revolutions.” Drawing insights from global uprisings that bring together dissenting voices from various segments of society, Selek also shared her analysis of the structure of rights-based movements specific to France.
Pınar Selek is one of those inspiring figures who, through her long-standing work in the field of sociology, her struggle for rights, continues to inspire us. We invited Selek, who is living in France more than 10 years to an online meeting, where she made her comments on the protests taking place in the country.
The uprising that started in the neighborhoods near Paris, where immigrants reside in large numbers, following the killing of 17-year-old Nahel by a police bullet, quickly grew into a massive movement, spreading to many different cities, including neighboring countries. As the declaration of a state of emergency was being considered in the country, issues concerning immigrants and the right to life of all citizens in the country were being discussed and debated on a global scale.
Pınar Selek, who resides in France and has conducted important academic research in the fields of human rights and social movements, as well as advocating for immigrant rights, was the first person we wanted to hear from regarding the uprising in France.
With your academic, activist, humanist, and feminist perspectives, we believe you will shed light on these protests for us, Pınar. Were the events in France a response to discrimination and despair? What was the framework that led to these incidents?
Many sociologists are making interesting comments, and a lot of people are talking about it; sometimes, I think we are also listening to hastily make comments. Generally, the analyses we need to pay attention to and think about are the ones that show that this process is multidimensional and dependent on various factors.
Social processes are intertwined with complex cycles, and each factor, even if temporary, should be considered separately. Colonialism, racism, policing, and their connections are very important factors. I would like to draw attention to six main points. Firstly, the global economic crisis. Starting with neoliberalism, this crisis has affected and reshaped the economy, as well as political and social structures worldwide. Many countries in Europe were restructured, everything was privatized, social welfare is disappeared along with social rights. This was not very noticeable in countries with a certain level of wealth, but social rights almost vanished in France.
The EU issued an ultimatum to France, saying, “You are still in the Stalinist era.” In other words, while certain features, such as the state’s control over institutions like unemployment agencies, still exist in France, many institutions have been privatized in other EU countries like Germany, Italy, the UK, and others. Macron came to power with the mission of changing this situation and swiftly decided to eliminate the social rights of this Stalinist structure—which, of course, is a completely misleading term. However, France is not like other European countries. These things are not so easy in France because all rights in this country have been gained through long social struggles.
“The state benefits from the legitimacy of using violence.”
For example, when the Prime Minister and President are elected here, they have to meet with human rights organizations first; civil organizations have significant legitimacy in France. Therefore, when there is such an organized society, laws do not change easily. So no matter how fast the government acts or even if the police use violence, it doesn’t work.
Beside, as the neoliberalism reduces the role of the state in economic and social life, it increases its security mission.
Therefore, the state, as Weber also said, as an “institution with the legitimate use of violence,” actually reinforces violence based on this legitimacy. Especially the Yellow Vests movement faced significant violence. There are people who were killed, blinded, and disabled. Of course, this is just one aspect.
Capitalism is seeking and creating “undocumented workers”
Another aspect is that, in connection with the institutionalization of neoliberalism, many parts of the world have become impoverished, and migrations have started.
Especially since the 80s, there have been massive migration movements. Migration, particularly economic migration, has become the only way to survive in the world. Of course, there are wars, political instabilities, but statistics show that the most common reason for migration is the economy. Local economies are completely disappearing. So today, there is a significant flow, and in addition to this migration flow, there are immigrants who came to France just like the Turks went to Germany back in the day, mainly through state organizations, to work. In the past, migrants used to come from colonized countries like Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. They worked as laborers. Of course, France benefited from this for a while, but these migrants also benefited from social rights and unionization as long as they obtained residence permits. Therefore, capitalist countries, including the United States, began to need a different type of worker to address this new crisis.
This point is crucial; the old migrants stayed here, but the newcomers generally became “undocumented” workers. Large factories, known as de-localization, went to countries where labor is cheap and workers are impoverished. However, the hotel, construction, and service sectors remained. Now, there is a phenomenon called on-site de-localization: Immigrants are criminalized, becoming undocumented here, and they play a significant role in the economy. In fact, thanks to the role of these undocumented workers in the economy, the European economy can breathe, and women have a significant role in this. Especially in the service sector, sex tourism, and so on… Therefore, since 2015, the state has exerted extreme pressure on immigrants, particularly increasing over time. I am not only talking about the French state but also about all of Europe.
Exactly, immigrants are a segment that is vital for the economy but constantly under the pressure of the state. Since the 80s and 90s, the migration rate hasn’t increased; it’s just that these immigrants have been further criminalized.
Administrative fragility and insecurity make people even more passive. They are unable to assert their rights or demand what they deserve. The lack of security and uncertainty in their administrative status further exacerbates their vulnerability, making it difficult for them to access their rights and advocate for themselves.
Many people are living in Europe in terrible poverty and even a kind of servitude. The difference in France is that these individuals can more easily engage in social struggles. They somehow participate in social movements along with the local population.
Now, there is another aspect that intertwines with and is integrated into this, something that is intertwined and fermented together: France, just like other countries we are familiar with, has significant blind spots. It is the inability to come to terms with the past, to confront its colonial history, its history of violence. Just like sexism. New policies either reinforce or reshape the existing repertoire.
Thus, in Turkey and France, processes are currently intertwining with each other—new forms of economic exploitation, colonial history, unresolved issues—all intermingling. The victims are aware, both consciously and unconsciously, of all these repertoires, and they begin to think together. Many dissatisfactions intertwine here. This, therefore, represents the second dimension of the matter.
The resurgence of far-right
The third dimension of the issue, which I believe is significant, is not only specific to France but also concerns the resurgence of far-right in Europe and around the world. When I say far right, I mean it to avoid using the term fascism directly. The term far-right is generally used to be more polite. Or what they call neo-fascism, the resurgent racism and nationalism. I don’t need to list which countries in Europe are witnessing the rise of the far right or even mention Turkey.
Neo-liberalism, neo-fascism, and neo-conservatism have become serious phenomena and are increasingly being accepted as normal. For example, the government readily blames the families for the young people who participate in protests. A special role is given to the family, saying that “families have failed to raise them.” However, in the republican tradition, it is the duty of the state to raise young people. The public sphere is supposed to provide them with opportunities… Now, the responsibility is entirely shifted onto the family. This is part of the restructuring. Thus, there is a new form of conservatism that is being legitimized. In addition to that, neo-fascism is on the rise. Just like in Italy, Turkey, and many other places, neo-fascism is gaining strength in France as well.
Let’s look at the election results. Eric Zemmour, in particular, is gaining more prominence and speaking out more, but Le Pen is not much different from him. The media also plays a significant role here, giving these individuals a platform, as if their rhetoric is somehow becoming normalized—which is very challenging in France. Because in France, there was a serious struggle against fascism during World War II. Let me say it’s like the epic of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey; here, there is an epic of resistance during World War II, a struggle against fascism. Of course, this is something that should be questioned; there may not have been such a great resistance, but students learn history as if there was.
I mentioned the blind spots, the inability to come to terms with the past… Here, things that were once taboo, such as the new fascists or the far right having a voice, speaking so comfortably, are becoming normalized. On the one hand, it serves the interests of those parties that are less right-wing or more aligned with the principles of the Republic, including Macron. Because they are the ones making all the scary statements, and in turn, they position themselves as the good cops. A narrative is created along the lines of “If you don’t vote for me, look who will win.” The presence of these elements somehow serves the interests of other political forces as well.
The far right is currently completely united. They criticize the government but also glorify the police who commit killings. While the far right is gaining strength, there is an incredible convergence among social movements as well: feminists, LGBTQ+ individuals, environmentalists, leftists, immigrants… In one of the Pride Marches that has been ongoing for a week, there were banners saying “we are all Nahel, we are all Adama,” with Adama being another African youngster who was killed in 2016. There is an incredible unity among these communities.
This unity scares them. As Foucault says, power constantly creates new mechanisms in response to resistance against it. If there were no resistance, there would not be such a need for such large-scale state violence. If there is such widespread state violence, it means that the state cannot govern, cannot establish hegemony. Because of the growing resistance in France, those who want to abolish rights, equality, and freedoms, along with the resurgent neo fascists, are finding their space.
Therefore, in France, there are social conflicts, contradictions, and social movements, but at the same time, there is the pressure from fascists and the state. In this chaos, there is a structure that has found its own language, its own voice, and has come together with the immigrant movement and the feminist movement here. It has also transformed other social movements and the immigrant movement, and now it has a greater presence. At the same time, I mentioned the complexity of the immigrant movement; sometimes the immigrant movement operates within regressive institutions heavily influenced by the state, simply to make things difficult for France.
You mentioned the rise of the far right, and it’s possible that Le Pen could win future elections, which is a strong possibility. But where are the left-wing parties in all of this? How much of what they should do are they actually doing? Can they create any hope for the defense of France’s founding values and the principles of the welfare state?
I can provide two answers to this. One is, what does the left mean? Actually, their meaning has become quite complicated because on the one hand, after the ultimatum from the European Union, privatization, restricting social rights, raising the retirement age, and many other issues emerged. During the resistance of World War II, during that epic resistance against fascism, the trade unions played a significant role. That’s why the state has to attach great importance to the trade unions here.
Charles de Gaulle and the entire resistance front prepared a grand constitution, and that constitution emerged from that resistance. Now, all those trade unions have been expelled, and it was not Macron who did it, but the political party from which Macron emerged. Hollande did it. So, Hollande pioneered the liberalization movement in France. Moreover, because he is a socialist, it’s more difficult to oppose him because a policy of “will the alternative be worse?” has developed. Therefore, let’s think of the socialists here as similar to Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), because the concept of socialism there is not the same as the concept of socialism here. Here, the socialists represent a more republican, social democratic position. They are divided into three or four groups.
By the way, the French Communist Party is also not like the communist party in Turkey. It carries significant weight here because it played a major role, particularly after World War II, during the foundation of the Republic. In fact, it was the biggest carrier of the resistance here. Therefore, it is almost considered a founding element of the republic, and when you talk to the communists here, they do not recognize the minorities here. There is a “white left” Republicanism, and its socialists come from the socialist party. They have gone through this education. They are quite divided now.
The Communist Party made a new statement saying that they will never align themselves with Mélenchon. They have been the most involved in these events, and for a week, they have been present in all the actions. But alongside them, we can also talk about a growing leftist movements. There are several of them and most of them do not turn into political parties but generally emerge as social movements. There is a strong movement against the airport, against agricultural pesticides, and against the centralization in agriculture. The youth movement is highly strong, and the LGBTQ+ and feminist movements are also growing, almost experiencing a rebirth. However, the connection between these movements is not being expressed within a single party. Actually, it’s the same in Turkey, but it’s a serious social movement. Trade unions had weakened until 2-3 years ago, but now they are getting stronger, especially the Yellow Vests movement opposed the weakness of the unions, saying, “We will do this job now because the unions can’t handle it.” It was a bottom-up movement, but now there is an atmosphere of social unity.
There is a need for a massive organization of the forces that stand for freedom, equality, and justice, and demand freedom. This is what they are suggesting now. During Hollande’s tenure, there was a major march from Lyon to Paris against racism, initiated by Algerians, and hundreds of thousands of people participated. It was a remarkable response to racism. Later, the President received them at the palace, and reforms were made. It was magnificent.
“We need to make international alliances”
It is slowly taking shape now; there are parliamentarians who suggest organizing such actions. Because otherwise, the stage is left to others, and even if there are only 3-5 people, violence becomes more visible. Political actions need to come to the forefront and gain strength. I am part of this discussion, and it would be great if we can organize it.
All that I have talked about is related to Turkey. Sometimes there may be power differences between the resistances in Turkey and those here, but we need to integrate more and more. Because the conservatism, liberalism, and fascism I described are not only specific to countries. They are global phenomena.