This is a segment of episode 344 of Last Born In The Wilderness, “The Startup Nation: The French Go On Strike; A Broken Social Contract w/ Alley Valkyrie.” Listen to the full episode: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/alley-valkyrie-3

Social critic and activist Alley Valkyrie returns to the podcast to discuss the recent wave of strikes and civil disrupt in France. As someone who has spent most of their life within the borders of the United States and a current resident of Rennes, France, Alley provides a well-rounded description of events that have led to one of the largest strikes and protests in recent memory in the nation.

Anglophone media rarely provides accurate insight into the protests in French society. Regarding the nationwide labor strikes and confrontational protests in major French metropolitan areas over the past several weeks, US media in particular simplifies the demands of those participating in them, resorting to common stereotypes and tropes of the lazy French and the robust social welfare system that spoil them. The reforms neoliberal president Emmanuel Macron forces through the legislature that strip hard-earned gains of the citizens of France are minimized, whether subtly or overtly. Having lived in Rennes for the better part of a decade now, Alley cuts through much of those cultural biases common in the nation she was born and raised, and what these strikes are really addressing, including the risks that come with them, both presently and in the coming years.

Alley Valkyrie is a textile artist and the author of ‘Of Monsters and Miso’, “a bilingual book of delicious miso sauce recipes,” and co-founder of Gods & Radicals Press.

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