Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the politics of the city street. French alterglobalisation activists take to the streets to protest and to affirm their right to participate in political life. The street embodies ideas of openness, publicness and visibility and provides a metaphor for an ideal form of politics.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the politics of the city street. In 2002, faced with another season of mass protests for a "social Europe", French Prime Minister Raffarin publicly asserted that "it's not the street that governs". While protesters have, for Raffarin, a right to express themselves, elected representatives equally have the right to ignore "the voice of the street". French alterglobalisation activists, however, take to the streets precisely to affirm their right to participate in political life, one guaranteed under the revolutionary Constitution of 1793. For activists, the street is a political stage. It is where they insist on conducting a politics of protest in explicit opposition to the politics of elected representatives and capitalist elites. They consider any assertions that existing democratic channels are participative to be mere pretence, and aim to bring Europe's leaders down to earth.

During marches and demonstrations, in which all can participate, activists take over the street, openly and visibly occupying public space and using it for a purpose at odds with what the authorities intend. The street, for activists, embodies ideas of openness, publicness and visibility, all of which are considered the marks of truly political activity. The street is thus a metaphor for an ideal form of politics. As such, it signifies the public and common good in opposition to the private and constitutes an exemplary space in which ordinary citizens can actively participate in political life and social struggle. Sometimes, however, the street becomes, quite literally, a site of struggle, contestation and conflict. The repressive tactics of the state are aimed at denying the street its political quality, imposing political silence upon the street and returning it to law and order. But activists resist the attempts of power to control the street and to define the political. They affirm the street as the sphere of politics par excellence.