Science at UM [S03-ep27]: Yellow Vests: What Remains of the Uprising?

[Podcast] - Published on May 30, 2024 in Science and Society

This week on "Science at UM": Emmanuelle Reungoat, a researcher at Cepel and an expert on the Yellow Vests movement, presents Tastes of Struggle, a film she co-directed with Pierre-Olivier Gaumin. In the second half of the program, Sébastien Lyonnais introduces us to the Cemipai in a four-part series. Finally, Magali Teillard-Dirat and Eva Montalti, psychologists at the University Hospital and members of Criavs-LR, invite you to a public event dedicated to incest. A program co-produced with Divergence FM and broadcast every Wednesday at 6 p.m. on 93.9.

In 2009, Karl Lagerfeld, wearing a yellow vest, promoted road safety with this slogan:“It’s yellow, it’s ugly, it doesn’t go with anything, but it can save your life! ” Nearly 10 years later, in 2018, tens of thousands of people—and even a few hundred thousand—took up that same vest to express their anger, despair, or rebellion. 

A symbol of both danger and protection, the yellow vest thus became the emblem of a population that saw itself as invisible—or rather, rendered invisible—by the political, economic, and cultural elites. But who were these invisible people who emerged from the masses to occupy the roundabouts? That is the question our guest Emmanuelle Reungoat, a political science researcher at Cepel, asked herself throughout the nearly 18 months that this movement lasted.

This line of inquiry has led to several scientific publications as well as a documentary film that she co-directed with Pierre-Olivier Gaumin. Over the course of these 60 minutes, they show us the aftermath of the Yellow Vests movement—or, to use their own words,“the mark that the uprising can leave on those who lived through it.”This film, titled *Des goûts de lutte*, was co-produced by Les films d’ici méditerranée, the CNRS, the MSH, and the University of Montpellier. 
Following a sold-out premiere at the Diagonal, the film returns to the Ciné Mistral in Frontignan this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. before embarking on a tour of western France in June and returning for a screening in Prades-le-lez in early September.

In the second half of the program, we’ll take you to Cemipai, the Center for Infectious Diseases and Anti-Infectious Pharmacology, a regional Biosafety Level 3 facility—and as you’ll hear, you can’t get in without showing your credentials. We’ll tell you more with Sébastien Lyonnais, a research engineer at the CNRS and head of the microscopy platform.

Finally, our last-minute guests will be Magali Teillard-Dirat and Eva Montaltsi, psychologists at Lapeyronie University Hospital and Criavs-LR; they will be presenting a public event focused on incest and its prevention. The event will take place at the University Hospital this Friday, May 31.

At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!

Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Directed by: Tom Chevalier / Alice Rollet

Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9

Keywords: Science at UM, Research, Science, Company