The yellow vests movement (Mouvement des gilets jaunes) had its first set of demonstrations in France on November 17, 2018. Since then, the movement has gained traction and spread throughout Europe. Some of the yellow vests’ demands include a raise in the minimum wage and the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron. But what’s going on underneath the surface of this movement and the mainstream reporting about it? For today’s episode, we speak to Diana Johnstone and Jorge Martin to take a closer look at the yellow vests and political upheaval in Europe.
Diana Johnstone is a political writer, focusing primarily on European politics and Western foreign policy. Her books include Queen of Chaos: The Misadventures of Hillary Clinton and Fools’ Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions. She is based in Paris.
Jorge Martin is the editor of America Socialista, the Spanish-language magazine of the International Marxist Tendency, and a writer for marxist.com. He has written extensively about Latin America and about the labor movement in Europe. He is originally from Spain and now lives in London.
Cover image: Vive la France by PJ Nelson on Flickr / CC-BY-SA-2.0