Why are strikers' actions around heritage so fascinating?

• Blockade of the Louvre, free performances in operas or degradations of monuments, heritage is also sought by social and protest movements.
• Each time, these actions are extremely relayed on social networks and seem to excite, for good or for bad.
• For Sandra Hoibian, who works on public opinion, the significance of these events is explained by everyone's attachment to culture.

The closure of the Louvre on Friday, due to union action against the pension reform, sparked strong reactions. On Twitter, numerous videos show a crowd of angry visitors, very furious at not having access to the museum. Social network forces everyone to comment on it, whether or not it is favorable to the action of the unions, which will in any case have succeeded in making a stir.

Dominique, from Auxerre, is ulcerated by the blockage of #Louvre # greve17janvier pic.twitter.com/nC2GtcSbjo

At the same time, the free performances of operas in Paris or Rouen, also on strike, attract crowds and comments. A little over a year ago, the damage to the Arc de Triomphe also caused a stir. Why are the actions of social movements around heritage so relayed and arouse so much public reaction? For Sandra Hoibian, director of the Evaluation and Society division of the Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (Credoc) and working on public opinion, actions around heritage fascinate with their visual impact and the everyone's appropriation of culture.

Does public opinion in France have an exacerbated sensitivity to the actions of social movements affecting heritage?

Cultural heritage remains a subject of great sensitivity and that affects the entire population, whether we are for or against. Somewhere, culture is favored for social protest actions because not all trades arouse such interest in public opinion. In France, there is also significant support for the world of culture, which also benefits from traditional support for public services in general.

This strength can of course also become a weakness, because actions towards heritage further fuel the tension of the "cons". Everyone appropriates culture and that is why the actions which make it temporarily inaccessible, such as the blocking of the Louvre for example, can provoke strong reactions.

How to explain such a relay of public opinion on actions affecting heritage?

The actions around the heritage are extremely relayed thanks to their visual force. Social protests live with the times, and today we are in an image society, so it is the visual that prevails. Almost everyone shares videos, and a free opera ballet will necessarily be more beautiful, more impactful and therefore more relayed than a protest choreography from another profession.

"La Marseillaise" played by the striking Paris Opera orchestra. A huge crowd in front of the square. Power and chills. # GreveJanuary 18 #reformedesretraites pic.twitter.com/d2yO8DEExg

There is also inevitably something enjoyable to see a culture reserved for an extreme elite become accessible to all by the strike, in particular with the representations of the Paris Opera. It becomes popular, therefore shared.

If the opera ballets overwhelmingly elicited favorable comments, a year ago, the degradation of the Arc de Triomphe had caused great controversy ...

In April 2019, one of our studies actually showed much stronger public support for actions to occupy places or factories (59%) than for the degradation of public goods (13%) . However, the more time passes, the more we see that these different types of actions and punches, even violent ones, find an echo and validation with public opinion. The movement "yellow vests" which obtained certain concessions from the government with this kind of shock actions, but also the ineffectiveness of the demonstrations, gave somewhat legitimacy and efficiency to this kind of actions.

In any case, when a social movement affects heritage or culture, it is not a red line for public opinion. Those favorable to the movement remain favorable, those against remain against. Actions around heritage just provoke more reactions, but not a change of opinion.

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• Louvre
• Society
• Heritage
• Strike
• Pension reform
• Interview