After a 16-year legal battle, a court has ruled to dismiss the case of chlordecone poisoning in the French Antilles. This pesticide, used in the banana plantations from 1972 to 1993, despite its proven toxicity, continues to claim lives. But, be it in Paris or the French overseas departments, [...]Read the full article
There are between 400,000 and 600,000 undocumented migrants in France. Most of them work. Through this photo report, these men and women share their daily realities.Read the full article
Many fear that France’s planned use of algorithmic video surveillance (AVS) for the 2024 Paris Olympics will infringe on civil liberties and lead to widespread mass surveillance beyond the event.Read the full article
“There was a turning point around 2015 when the general public started becoming aware of problems in the industry. We began to realise that if we wanted our industry to work well we needed unions.”Read the full article
Former housekeeper Rachel Keke entered politics following a successful battle to defend the labour rights of chambermaids in the hotel industry. Now a deputy in the French National Assembly, Keke continues to fight for the rights of essential [...]Read the full article
Farmer Cédric Herrou, who has found himself in the media spotlight for his work to help migrants in France, has denounced what he describes as “state racism” on several occasions. In 2019 he created the first farming community of the Emmaüs movement in the Alps, linking the defence of human rights [...]Read the full article
In 2019, the Abbé Pierre Foundation, which fights against bad housing and exclusion, estimated the number of homeless children in France at 30,000. Since then, local charities have noted an increase in the number of homeless children throughout the country, particularly due to the arrival of new [...]Read the full article
In France’s overseas departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, people wonder why, with so many endemic problems, the law on Covid vaccines is the only one France seems intent on enforcing.Read the full article
Rising temperatures and adverse weather conditions affecting Europe made 2021 a particularly tough year for bees. The honey harvest has been badly hit. Pesticide poisoning and unfair competition from third countries are adding to the problems faced by [...]Read the full article
In Mayotte, France’s 101st department, the state is stepping up its housing demolitions. The goal is to eliminate unsanitary housing. But its action has had serious consequences for thousands of people who have been driven out of their homes without anywhere else to [...]Read the full article
Rental intermediation allows the state, or an approved association, to guarantee private landlords that the rent will be paid on one hand, and to offer tenants affordable rent on the other.Read the full article
Between 500 and 800 migrants survive under extremely precarious conditions in Calais, northern France. Despite daily evictions from camps and increasing police pressure, they hold out the hope of making the crossing to the United [...]Read the full article
The shock of the pandemic has created the idea that working without being paid for one’s time or professional skills could be acceptable, upholding the notion of some forms of ‘free’ work in the name of solidarity, generosity and one’s duty as a [...]Read the full article
Housekeeping staff at a hotel in the north of Paris have been striking for better working conditions for over a year. Immigrant women of African origin, without any qualifications or experience in fighting for their rights, their only strength lies in their determination not to give up in the [...]Read the full article
“We have completely changed the system. We changed the farm and we changed with it”. In France, a quarter of farms are managed by women farmers. Little by little, these women are bringing their vision to the different aspects of farming and changing [...]Read the full article
Three years after France passed a law aimed at preventing companies from hiding behind their status as buyers in the event of human or environmental rights violations, the legislation continues to raise hope among NGOs, at the same time as revealing its [...]Read the full article
Over the last few months, music from both the historical repertoire of protest songs as well as from popular culture and football stadiums are going viral on social media and breathing new life into musical resistance.Read the full article
All over the world, coastal areas are losing ground. While the latest IPCC report recommends strengthening protection systems, other strategies are emerging, such as the removal of infrastructure and housing, and are highlighting the social inequalities in the distribution of [...]Read the full article
Coworking spaces, fab labs, hackerspaces, makerspaces, living labs…new working spaces are thriving and reinventing the way we work by pooling resources and skills.Read the full article
Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018, the legislation in EU countries has been brought into line, and penalties for the misuse of technology have been strengthened. But the widespread development of the video surveillance market has led to abuses, [...]Read the full article
“What is at stake here goes far beyond the sporting challenge. What we want to achieve is a level of visibility that will finally put women’s football on the map, across the whole of the country and abroad, and to reach the stage where we stop talking about women’s football and talk about football [...]Read the full article
In Europe, local newspapers have lost readers’ trust and support, but new media outlets are emerging with a different approach. In South America and Africa, meanwhile, new opportunities are emerging to build counterpower at local [...]Read the full article
Martine Kaluszynski:In France, after several attacks and the increase in the number of prisoners who follow radical Islam, striking prison guards are denouncing their working conditions, which they consider outdated and, above all, dangerous.Read the full article
“As Native Americans, we are doubly sanctioned. On the one hand, we are not recognised as Indigenous peoples. On the other hand, although we are French, our rights as citizens are not respected.”Read the full article
In France, the high proportion of women amongst the ‘yellow vests’ protesters reminds us that this particular group of workers turn the wheels of essential services, such as health and education. They represent the ignored power of the social [...]Read the full article
The French government wants to pass a law that will reduce the fixed quota of new homes accessible to persons with a disability from 100 per cent to 20 per cent, further excluding them from life in town.Read the full article
For three months, women and men throughout France have been protesting government policies, inequality and unfair taxation. Many are non-voters and not involved in party politics. They seek to regain political ground by advocating for more direct [...]Read the full article
For years, the true impact of nuclear testing in French Polynesia was kept a closely-guarded secret. But recently, the full extent of the fallout has slowly begun to come to light.Read the full article
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has committed to a 50 per cent reduction in CO² emissions by 2050, but recent studies have raised concerns amongst the residents of port cities like Marseille about the current effects on their [...]Read the full article
The events of 1968 caused an earthquake in the history of cinema. In addition to being critical of how the industry itself was organised, the movement marked a return to social themes and the documentary genre.Read the full article
France’s last government promised hardship points so that workers could retire earlier. But President Emmanuel Macron has narrowed the criteria and risks for women workers are still ignored.Read the full article
“Politicians and the general public need to understand that this is not a ‘Roma issue’ but a question of poor housing and economic insecurity.”Read the full article
France has been accumulating nuclear waste since 1974, with no long-term solution for recycling it. Plans to bury it underground in Bure, in the east of France, are the object of fierce opposition from the anti-nuclear movement.Read the full article