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From Watchmen to Sentinels, Structuring : Transnational Dynamics and European Collective Action in Local Activism Structuration Magali Della Sudda

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From Watchmen to Sentinels, Structuring : Transnational Dynamics and European Collective Action in Local Activism Structuration Magali Della Sudda From Watchmen to Sentinels, structuring : Transnational dynamics and European collective action in local activism structuration Magali Della Sudda To cite this version: Magali Della Sudda. From Watchmen to Sentinels, structuring : Transnational dynamics and Eu- ropean collective action in local activism structuration. Circulations et réseaux transnationaux en France et en Europe des années 1960 à nos jours, Bruno Dumons; Olivier Dard, Dec 2019, Lyon, France. halshs-03104305 HAL Id: halshs-03104305 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-03104305 Submitted on 8 Jan 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives| 4.0 International License From Watchmen to Sentinels, structuring : Transnational dynamics and European collective action in local activism structuration Magali Della Sudda, Visiting scholar, CASBS Centre Émile Durkheim [email protected] For several years now, the role of international movements in social movements has been considerably highlighted1. This chapter offers a reflection on national and transnational dynamics by means of a local case study. In this specific configuration of a local institutional context unfavourable to the contestation of gender equality policies, a collective will invest the urban space in a spectacular and sustainable way, forging links with European protests to show its opposition and try to put this cause on the agenda. These findings are based on a survey of a group of activists of around 30 people in a metropolis in the south-west of France (in-depth interviews, participant observations) and on the collection of data from social networks (Facebook) between 2013 and 2020. Over the last two decades, gender equality policies have been implemented in Europe. They aimed at establishing formal and real equality between women and men and between same- sex and heterosexual couples. International conventions and institutions, whether international or non-governmental organisations, have thus defined frameworks and benchmarks that States have transposed into their national legislation. The transnational dimension of gender equality policies was highlighted at an early stage2, originating in feminist collective action repertoires3. This egalitarian dynamic in turn gave rise to strong resistance which was described as “anti-gender campaigns”4 or “anti-gender crusade”5, as a counter-movement6. In 1 SMITH Jackie, « Transnational Social Movements », in The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements, Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. 2 PATERNOTTE David, Transnationalisation/Mobilisations transnationales in Dictionnaire. Genre et science politique, Presses de Sciences Po, 2013. 3 RUPP Leila J., Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women’s Movement, Princeton, N.J.; Chichester: Princeton Unviversity Press, 1998. For catholic organisations and conservative social movements Bruno Dumons, « Pour une histoire transnationale du « catholicisme au féminin » (XIXe-XXe siècles). Circulations missionnaires, dévotions spirituelles, révolutions sociales et sexuelles », Revue de l’histoire des o religions, n 3, septembre 2020, p. 423‑45; DELLA SUDDA, Magali, « L’internationale blanche. La Fédération internationale des Ligues féminines catholiques », Bibliothèque du CRH Pratiques du transnational: preuves, o terrains, limites, n 1, 2011, p. 79‑100; DELLA SUDDA, Magali « Réseaux catholiques féminins. Une perspective de genre sur une mobilisation transnationale. », 12‑13, Spring 2013, http://genrehistoire.revues.org/1872. 4 KUHAR Roman & David PATERNOTTE, Ed., Anti-gender campaigns in Europe: mobilizing against equality, France, the lay Catholics played a crucial role in a “counter revolutionary” protest rooted in “observant Catholicism”7. Among the initiators of the protest, activists with a professional background in communication shaped the collective action as a spectacular event8. The Manif pour Tous, which refers to both an association of different social movement organisations9, and the conservative social movement against the Taubira bill and equality policies led by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem Minister of Women's Rights (16/08/2012-16/05/2014) then Minister of National Education (26/08/2014-17/05/2017). Among the groups that make up the Demonstrations for All (Manif pour Tous), the “Watchmen” (Veilleurs) movement was born in Paris in the spring of 2013. Faced with the passing of a law that seems inevitable, some opponents try to challenge the public by gathering in the evening with candles in Paris and the provinces. Students from the École Normale Supérieure10 in Lyon bring texts for a public reading. The vigils are seated, punctuated by singing, and reveal a Catholic socialisation marked by the passage into scouting as the Song of Hope testifies11. On 19 June 2013, following the arrest of a “Watchman” called Nicolas Buss during a demonstration against same-sex marriage, one of his comrades stands in front of the Ministry of Justice on 24 June 2013. Silent and alone on Place Vendôme in Paris, he quickly drew media coverage via social networks12. The “Standing Sentinels” distinguished from the seated protesters by their position and silence. The standing and silent position is a distant echo of the protests that take place in Turkey with the figure of Duran adam, the man standing up to authoritarian power13. The arrest and detention of Nicolas Buss, a young demonstrator, for London: Rowman & Littlefield International, 2017. 5 GARBAGNOLI Sara & PREARO Massimo, La croisade « anti-genre »: du Vatican aux manifs pour tous, Petite Encyclopédie critique, Paris: Textuel, 2017. 6 CORREDOR Elizabeth S., « Unpacking “Gender Ideology” and the Global Right’s Antigender Countermovement », Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 44, 3, 2019: 613‑38. 7 RAISON DU CLEUZIOU Yann, Une contre-révolution catholique: aux origines de La Manif pour tous (Paris, France: Éditions du Seuil, 2019. 8 DELLA SUDDA Magali, Les avatars de la Manif pour Tous : recompositions autour des questions de genre, Mémoire d’habilitation à diriger les recherches, Pessac, Institut d’études politiques de Bordeaux, 2020, tel- 03093897. 9 ZALD Mayer N., ASH Roberta, « Social Movement Organizations: Growth, Decay and Change », Social Forces o 44, n 3, 1966, p. 327‑41; CAIANI Manuela et DELLA PORTA Donatella, « The Radical Right as Social Movement Organizations », The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right, 2018. 10 This prestigious academic institution trains students to become academics or civil servant. It recruits and trains French elite. 11 BALAS Marie, TRICOU Josselin, « “Nous, maintenant, on veut poursuivre cette occupation de la rue” : les catholiques attestataires entre contre-culture, mission et défense patrimoniale », Social Compass, 66, no 1, 2019, p. 62‑74. 12 RASCHINI Elisa, « Entre espace urbain et espace numérique. La mobilisation immobile des Sentinelles contre le mariage homosexuel », in Mots. Les langages du politique, no 110, 2016, p. 31‑47. 13 Ibid. The Watchmen refer to the mobilization of Taksim Square, where Erdem Gürdüz, dancer and choreographer, chose this performance to challenge authoritarian power. His performance, put online, is quickly distributed on social networks. three weeks “revived the movement”14. The university holidays, synonymous with the return home or holiday resort of these young men and women from good families, is an opportunity to publicise the movement by moving the mobilisation sites. In the manner of the Catholic leagues of the last century which took advantage of their summer to give conferences in the holiday resorts, the “Veilleurs” swarmed in the provinces on the occasion of a “Tour de France des Veilleurs”15, following the name of a famous national cycling race that takes place every summer in France. The local version will be launched in the summer of 2013. The first three "Veilleurs" are students, enrolled at the Right-wing party “Union for a Popular Movement” (UMP) 16. In August, a rally is held in front of the National School of Magistracy (ENM) in Bordeaux17. The Standing Sentinels quickly took the name of “Sentinels”, which thus came into being in the second phase of the social movement, after the vote on the Taubira law and its promulgation in May 2013. The weekly vigils followed the demonstrations that had been taking place at a sustained pace until May 2013. They continued until 23 March 2020, the date of confinement. The Parisian Sentinels" changed their name and created their Facebook page on 23 August 2013. A Facebook page Local Sentinels ("Sentinelles - Locales") was quickly created and diffused this name change. The choice of a new term refers to the need to distinguish between groups that do not have the same purpose. The strategy of the "Sentinels" is international, it aims to broaden the focus to "the Human" and should allow the movement to continue outside of demonstrations. While the Watchers deploy their action at a local level. Distinction and international
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