Protesting in the Streets of Paris

I never had the opportunity to climb the hill in Montmartre to see the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur, but I did see it from the fifth floor of Musee d'Orsay. I have to agree though that it is not a particularly beautiful building. Striking it is, and it's not ugly, but it's not beautiful in the sense that most ostentatious churches built with similar motives are. It's presence, though, as this big white building on a hill overlooking the city is an effective symbol of repressing protest, something that is central to Paris' reputation.

The Basilica was built in response to the rise of the Paris Commune of 1871 over those in power at the time, no longer just the nobility but the bourgeois class. This bloody struggle, on the part of both sides, included both sides executing their opponents, much like the Jacobins during the French Revolution of 1789. The Commune was the first instance of class warfare as we know it today, as the working class, following a socialist platform, briefly seized control of Paris and attempted to destroy symbols of the old order, such as the Vendome Column.

Thus when the Commune fell, the bourgeoisie allied with the Catholic Church, that eternal symbol of old order in France, to construct something to assert their power. The hill of Montmartre was a place of martyrdom for both sides, notably two police officers trying to quell a working class uprising and not too far away, in Pere Lachaise cemetery, the last of the Commune leaders fell victim to a firing squad. The French monarchy had long flirted with a devotion to the Sacred Heart, vowing to erect a monument like Sacre-Coeur after times of hardship, but now this was to become a reality. The Basilica was finally consecrated shortly after World War I and stands today as an imposing symbol of order over an often unruly city.

However, the presence of Sacre-Coeur has hardly discouraged protest in the city of Paris. On our last day, walking through the Place de la Sorbonne, we encountered a protest led by CGT, France's largest confederation of labor unions. Like the Commune once did, CGT rallies for the interests of the working class, though unfortunately I do not know exactly what prompted this particular protest. I remembered, while watching people carrying banners down la Rue de Victor Cousin and chanting "21, 53" (I don't know the significance of these numbers), that CGT was responsible for the strike at the Bastille Opera that resulted in our ballet being cancelled. However, despite that disappointment, I do not know enough abut French labor politics to know whether I sympathize with their concerns.

Walking past the Sorbonne, France's most prestigious university, every day, I was not surprised that it would be a popular location for protests. Universities have long had a reputation as hotbeds of new and controversial ideologies, and the Sorbonne is no exception. Counting among its alumni many of France's major thinkers, from Voltaire to Moliere to Victor Hugo, whose names are also displayed on the roof of the Sorbonne metro station. It was a funny coincidence that the day after Prof. Silver gave us a mini-lecture about the Paris Commune and Paris' reputation for protest, we see protestors marching past the Sorbonne. It actually reminded me a bit of Eugene, and the University of Oregon having a similar reputation, though it had been a while since I had witnessed a particularly big protest.