The Yellow Vest Movement (YVM) erupted in France in November 2018, paralyzing French daily life for months. The movement has been called the most significant since the 1968-movement, and mobilized parts of the population that are seldomly seen in demonstrations. Thus, the YVM showcased a widespread distrust in representative democracy, as well as emerging political cleavages.
In her doctoral dissertation, Ingeborg Misje Bergem analyses the YVM in light of the crisis of representation both in France and in the West in general. She argues that the YVM is conditioned by, as well as an example of, some key changes in contemporary democracies. In her dissertation, Misje Bergem situates the YVM in the French political landscape, comparing it both to the radical left and the radical right. Moreover, she uses the case of the YVM to criticize a strand within the burgeoning academic literature on populism. Finally, Misje Bergem discusses how the YVM was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic through qualitative interviews with conspiracist participants in the YVM.
Misje Bergem argues that the YVM must be understood as conditioned by and a reaction to a form of politics that has become more consensus-oriented and technocratic and which in its turn has produced new political cleavages. Moreover, she asserts that seemingly different interpretations of the YVM are in fact parts of the same evolution in which demographic groups that are being politically, economically, geographically and culturally marginalized find common ground. Finally, Misje Bergem claims that the YVM is an example of the individualization of politics, and that it accentuates and accelerates certain populist tendencies in other political movements in Western and French politics.
The defence is open to the public and will be live-streamed.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: "Does France Exhibit The Characteristics Of A Contentious Country?"
31 May 2024, 10.15 am, Sophus Bugges hus auditorium 2.
The trial lecture is open to the public and will be live-streamed.
Evaluation committee
- Professor Cristina Flesher Fominaya, Aarhus University (first opponent)
- Associate Professor Marte Mangset, University of Oslo (second opponent)
- Professor Frédéric Gonthier, Grenoble Alpes University
- Professor Atle L. Wold, University of Oslo (committee administrator)
Chair of the defence
- Professor Anne Birgitte Rønning
Supervisors
- Associate Professor Kjerstin Aukrust, University of Oslo
- Professor Olivier Baisnée, Sciences Po Toulouse