In a rather edgy social context where French police unions are on the verge of striking work, where the authority of President Emmanuel Macron has taken a beating, it may have been counter-productive for the education ministry to go after a fly with a sledge-hammer.
“Mad with rage” after watching President Macron’s recent address to the nation, Sophie Carrouge, a high-school teacher of French in Dijon (Burgundy), dashed off a blog post titled “Big-White-Chief Has Spoken” on a local “anti-authoritarian” news and views portal.
On December 12, her post appeared on “Dijoncter Info” — a play on the words disjoncter, ‘to short-circuit’, ‘to crack up’, and “Dijon”, the name of their city. The next day, Carrouge, known for her opposition to recent educational reforms, received a somewhat vague summons, requiring her to appear a week later before the Dijon Rectorate.
Also Read: Explainer: Who Are the ‘Yellow Vest’ Protestors of France?
The news spread, and on the fated Thursday afternoon, December 20, some 60 colleagues, students and parents waited with placards and megaphones before the Rectorate. Queries by media got a mumbled response about this not being about punitive action, but about reminding a state functionary about her responsibilities.
Amidst chanting slogans like “Speak up, Sophie!!” and some creative writing and drawing on a large plastic sheet improvised as a democracy wall, there were some minutes of heightened tension when police appeared, checking identities of students broadcasting her blog post through a megaphone, provoking laughter all around.
A central stake in this conflict attracting wide attention is the confusion around the state functionary’s alleged duty of “discretion” or “reserve” in the expression of her views. Sophie Carrouge, by deliberately publishing under her real name, mentioning her function and place of work, seems to be testing the limits of this duty in a somewhat favorable historical and social context.
Indeed, in Voltaire’s country, there is in fact no official definition of any such “devoir de réserve“, detailing rights and duties of state functionaries. In July 1983, socialist president Mitterand’s minister of “fonction publique“, Anicet Le Pors clarified in parliament that the mention of such an obligation of discretion had not been left out or forgotten. “It’s a considered decision. For the first time, we have written the freedom of opinion of a state functionary into the statutes.”
Any individual instance of a functionary seen as going too far – say, a police officer himself pronouncing a suspect guilty – is therefore a matter to be examined by judges looking at past jurisprudence, not by administrative hierarchy on the basis of service rules.
And this precisely is what an upcoming draft legislation intends to change, specifically for school teachers. Macron’s minister of education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, in his draft “Schooling-in-Confidence” legislation, deems it “unreasonable to depend on jurisprudence” and intends to “inscribe this duty into law”.
Given the general mood of suspicion and defiance in France, and the possibility of protest movements picking up after the Christmas break, the government seems to be dancing a Parisian tango on eggs.
In Sophie Carrouge, the president, alleged lover of literature and philosophy, may have found his match. He must make sure that “Big-White-Chief Has Spoken” does not become the season’s new favorite in high-school literature and theatre classes across France.
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Big-White-Chief spoke for thirteen minutes to calm the passions of millions of Indians. Big-White-Chief warned at the outset of his sermon that if the millions of Indians continued to try his patience, he was going to be intractable for the restoration of order – the authority of the Grand Elysian Teepee being at stake.
Big-White-Chief grants an extra slice of smoked bison for the festive season, and every month hence, each Old Indian will receive one flat corn bread and a flask of fire-water. Young Indians are called upon to put away their arrows in the quiver as quickly as possible if they wish not to be impaled upon the totem of justice where the Big-White-Chief will embalm them with tar and plumes.
Who could have watched Emmanuel Macron last evening at 8 pm, without screaming? Simultaneously on all channels, like in the good old days of the ORTF, the Bureau of French Radio and Television?
Higher ratings than world cup football, they tell us. Yes, we live in a world where football is the unit of measure and where one thinks one can buy out a collectif tsunami for a hundred euros.
A world where a president can begin such a speech without beginning by apologising for all the victims of police repression, to the man who has lost an arm, or lost an eye, to the woman who was insulted and called a dirty little Arab whore?
A president who dares to throw as bait that word, “immigration”, meant to unite and consolidate the people. Let’s get together to bust the aliens, lone minors or older men with empty pockets – these profiteering good-for-nothings!
The gilets jaunes gathered at la République, à Paris. Around 136,000 participated on December 8. Credit: /REUTERS/Stéphane Mahé
Over thirteen minutes, Emmanuel Macron revealed to us his real face, hands on the table, gaze fixed on the prompter with the empathy of a lion-tamer – shut your big mouth, Frenchie, and jump through the hoop, with or without your yellow vest.
From January, you’ll get your candy. And you, old man still alive, with the tax relief I’m giving now, you can buy some funeral insurance with the bonus option of a reinforced melamine coffin with brass handles.
Several voices have risen, notably Laurent Berger’s, who is to union struggle what Vivagel is to gastronomy, to urge the ‘moderate yellow vests’ to grasp the hand stretched out. You know that feeling, when you hold a hostile alien’s sticky claw – “We are your friends”. As in ‘Mars Attacks!’
I am a teacher and I would like to thank all our students for the physical and moral courage they have shown. Without them, I would be without hope in my high school, enlightened solely by these lights of wisdom.
I thank the Yellow Vests camping in the cold at roundabouts, who have helped me understand that no, behind every flat-broke Frenchman there does not lurk Marine Le Pen’s grimacing shadow. So long live the struggle, the joyous rage, the unity of opposites. Whatever the outcome of this movement, France would have gained in dignity and collective intelligence.
Emmanuel Macron is drab, Emmanuel Macron is an old fossil, Emmanuel Macron is not a president.
Emmanuel Macron is a salesman who stole to power through the power of funerary urns. It’s your ballot that sealed your fate, comrade.
Sophie Carrouge (high-school teacher, Lycée Le Castel, Dijon, France).
The column penned by Sophie Carrouge was translated into English by Akshay Bakaya.
Several teachers and parents in Dijon have signed the following declaration:
“Our colleague and friend, Sophie Carrouge has been summoned Thursday afternoon to the Rectorate to explain her writing this column.
We fail to understand how our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech could be called into question.
This summons becomes particularly significant when you know that Sophie has been at the forefront of the battle against the Baccalaureate Reform and the governments new ‘Parcours Sup’ App for university admissions, as well as the struggle for stay permits for our foreign students.
In solidarity, we have decided to add our own signatures to Sophie’s column.”