A public building blown up by an explosion in Carcassonne, motorways and roads blocked… Farmers are angry and know how to show it by multiplying spectacular, sometimes violent, actions in recent days. They are expressing their dissatisfaction with the wine situation, which is “dramatic” according to the Aude winegrowers’ union, Frédéric Rouanet, to AFP, also driven by a feeling of abandonment by public authorities in a difficult context of climate transition.
Can the despair felt by part of the profession, and more broadly the agricultural world, nevertheless justify such civil disobedience, or even disorder? Why do public authorities seem, moreover, more easily inclined to forgive farmers than other social groups?
Two weights, two measures ?
Faced with this anger expressed for several days, with the promise to continue actions “as long as it is necessary”, according to Arnaud Rousseau, president of the first French agricultural union, the FNSEA, the public authorities are guilty of a ” double hypocrisy”, judge Julien Bayou, EELV deputy for the 3rd and 10th arrondissements of Paris, questioned by 20 minutes. The first concerns the policies carried out, or not, in favor of farmers by the government and Emmanuel Macron since he came to power. The second, “secondary”, according to the elected environmentalist, is in fact the political treatment of the expression of farmers’ anger. “When there is a bomb that explodes we don’t talk about ‘terrorism’, but when three ecologists engage in civil disobedience, we talk about ‘ecoterrorism’,” he illustrates.
Marc Fesneau announced on Sunday to the “RTL Grand Jury – Le Figaro – M6 – Paris Première » take legal action and described as “unbearable” the explosion of a building of the regional environment, planning and housing department (DREAL) in Carcassonne, on the night of January 18 to 19, claimed by the Viticultural Action Committee. However, he refuses to speak of “agroterrorism”, in comparison to “ecoterrorism”, often used by the government to describe the actions of climate activists, particularly against megabasins. “I am not in one-upmanship, I condemn violence wherever it comes,” he explained. Concerning the blocking of the A64 motorway, Gérald Darmanin for his part declared during a press conference on Monday that there were “no plans to evacuate since there is no damage”.
Legitimate and listened to anger
This anger is then deemed legitimate by the State. “Farmers are going through a difficult time in their professional lives,” explained the Minister of the Interior. Gabriel Attal also wasted no time in inviting them to Matignon to hear the reasons for the anger. “Our farmers are not bandits, polluters, people who torture animals, as we sometimes hear,” said the Prime Minister on Saturday in the Rhône, as a sign of appeasement.
Indeed, it is a question of an entire profession “which cannot cope”, adds Daniel Boy, emeritus research director at Sciences Po. “They are not well paid and their expenses have soared, they are stuck by issues that are beyond them,” he adds. So, “we respect this violence because it is well understood, the public knows that behind these acts, there is no ideology, no politics, but concrete demands, the population identifies », then analyzes to 20 minutes Michel Wieviorka, sociologist, director of studies at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS). And to develop: “Their violence is perceived as instrumental and not as a way of imposing a revolution or a new power” thus “the same act will not be perceived in the same way depending on the author”. “Farmers’ violence is considered legitimate,” insists the sociologist.
The nourishing farmer
Despite a minimal percentage in the population (1.5% of total employment according to INSEE statistics recorded in 2020), the farmer is therefore, if not always heard, listened to by political power and society. “It is in the French cultural and political tradition, when farmers have a problem, it must be resolved very quickly,” underlines Daniel Boy. It dates from a time when the agricultural body represented a larger part of the population and had greater political weight, and it remained anchored in morals. You just have to see the importance of the Agricultural Show in France in the political agenda. From the president to party leaders, including the Prime Minister, it is the first major popular political event of the year and a ritual not to be missed.
“There is also this idea that farmers are essential to collective life,” adds Michel Wieviorka. It is a respected, appreciated world, which embodies France in its rural side necessary for all. The French relationship with agriculture is not the same as with other areas of social life. » This respect is then also reflected through politicians “even if they do not come from the same world”, notes Michel Wieviorka.
A power of nuisance
Manure, agricultural bombs and tractors at hand, farmers also know how to do spectacular and media-rich actions. If they are spared, it is also because they are feared. “They have very troublesome modes of action, much more so than Extinction Rebellion,” notes Daniel Boy. According to him, it is easier in practice to dislodge a sit-in by environmental activists than agricultural machinery on a highway. “They have very effective means of material action,” he summarizes.
At the political level, they exercise a certain influence. With the European elections coming up, it has increased tenfold. Agriculture is in fact a key subject in Brussels and is becoming strategic for those in power. Especially since the Eurosceptics, and in particular the National Rally, can take advantage of this anger to recover votes. Because beyond the proportion of voters they represent, farmers manage to make their cause heard beyond their corporation. “The whole of society feels concerned by their problems, in the end, that’s what we have on our plates,” summarizes Michel Wieviorka.