Date of Award

Spring 5-16-2020

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Advisor(s)

Kari Evanson, Ph.D.

Abstract

This paper offers an insight into the cause of the Yellow Vest Movement in France. I argue that the Yellow Vest Movement was not simply caused by the Gas Tax passed under the Macron Administration, but by years of subjugation of the working-class under neoliberal ideology stemming from the 1980s and continuing to 2019. The two northern regions of Grand Est and Hauts-de-France known historically for their working-class communities are examined in order to see how neoliberalism has subjugated the working-class over the past forty years. Using the works of Pierre Bourdieu, Édouard Louis, Florence Aubenas, François Ruffin, and my own research from my time in Reims, I demonstrate how globalization, deregulation, and rise in support for right-wing politics have pressured these communities to protest concluding that the outbreak of the Yellow Vest Movement is endemic of the pressures felt by working-class people under neoliberalism.

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