Amid French school protests, students seek 'respect, dignity and decent working conditions'

Alison Sargent is pleased to welcome Éric Fassin, a sociologist and professor at Paris VIII University. He sees these student protests first and foremost as a demand for equality, dignity and recognition.

Students from working-class suburbs are asking for the basic conditions that make studying possible and, ultimately, the same opportunities as students elsewhere.

What began among students in the Parisian suburbs has spread, but its fundamental meaning remains the same: this is a social movement with a political and democratic dimension.

He also see these protests in the context of a longer history of repression of social movements in France.