Increasingly Conservative and Fed Up With ‘Politics as Usual’ : French Youth: Yuppies With Twist of Social Conscience

Harlem Desir was 8 years old in May, 1968, when thousands of French university students rioted in the streets and France teetered on the brink of anarchy.

“We didn’t have a TV back then,” Desir said recently, “so I didn’t get to see much of it. For me, the 1968 uprising seems like it took place as long ago as World War II. All that is ancient history. We do things differently today.”

At 25, Desir is the leader of what many consider to be the largest French youth movement since the upheavals of 1968, when student demonstrations spread to the factories, producing a general strike that paralyzed France and almost toppled the government.

Desir’s group, SOS-Racism, claims more than a million supporters nationwide. It was founded last year to combat what was seen as growing anti-immigrant sentiment. Today, spokesmen for SOS-Racism say, the group sells 30,000 hand-shaped buttons every day bearing the slogan: Touche Pas a Mon Pote --”Don’t Touch My Buddy.”

For many observers here, the success of SOS-Racism is new and important evidence that the young people of France are changing again. Public opinion polls and interviews with young people make it clear that today’s youths are altogether different from the apathetic, indifferent youngsters of the late 1970s, who were known as the bof generation -- the “who cares?” generation.

Young people of today, mere toddlers in 1968, are increasingly conservative and career-oriented, fed up with the notion of “politics as usual.” Indeed, one might call them yuppies with a twist--pragmatic, individualistic young men and women who not only pursue personal interests but are also ready to do battle for social reform.

Even Le Nouvel Observateur, the influential weekly news magazine that coined the term “ bof generation” in a 1978 cover story, recently pictured an SOS-Racism button on its cover with the headline: Jeunes: La Love Politique --”Youth: The Love of Politics.”

In its story, the left-leaning magazine said: “Something new is in the process of being born. This is a generation that no longer says ‘ bof! ‘ Young people are in the process of rallying gently, without uproar, for what would be called, if it weren’t such an outdated expression, a ‘new morality.’ ”

According to the government, there are about 8 million in the 15-to-24 age group, about 20% of the population. Close to half of them are in school, a third are working and the rest are either serving in the military or unemployed.

Well Informed, Literate

By and large, they are well-read, averaging 22 books a year. They crave music, and devote 11.5 hours a week to it. Only 51% regularly watch television, compared to 70% of the adult population.

Financial security and personal happiness rank high on their list of priorities. In many ways, they resemble America’s “me” generation,” known here as the “repli sur soi,” or “withdraw into oneself,” generation. However, unlike the self-absorbed young Americans of the 1970s, French youth today are far from indifferent to the world around them.

An October, 1984, public opinion survey by Sofres, the leading French polling organization, found that 46% of France’s youth believe that French society must be fundamentally reformed, while only 6% are satisfied with the status quo. Six years earlier, by contrast, 32% thought a major overhaul was in order, while 16% preferred things as they were.

Reformist Tendencies

Despite this reformist tendency, politically, French young people are increasingly conservative, not so much in terms of party identification as in belief. In 1981, 56% of French youth polled by Sofres said that France could not defend itself without its force de frappe, its nuclear deterrent. Today, the number has increased to 72.3%.

And while a slim majority of young French males regard the mandatory year in military service as “lost time,” 55% believe that without military conscription national defense would be “inconceivable.” Six years ago, 13% of French males wanted to be declared conscientious objectors; today that segment has fallen to 6%.

French youngsters are changing in other ways, too. In the 1960s, a familiar battle cry in the streets was “Family, I hate you!” Today, one is more likely to hear, “Family, I love you!” According to a 1984 Sofres poll, 84% of French youngsters have “great trust” in their parents. Friends, teachers and priests fall well behind.

Conservatism Increasing

In many ways, it seems, French youngsters are virtually indistinguishable from their American counterparts. Both groups are increasingly conservative and both have taken to the the streets this year to protest apartheid in South Africa. They even look alike.

“When I got here, I expected French kids to be completely different from what I was accustomed to back home,” said Douglas F. Curtis, a 22-year-old from Chicago student of political science on a Rotary scholarship. “Instead, I discovered the Americanization of French youth.”

Michaeline Fall, 24, an American who has been in Paris four months, has found that, in appearance, French and American youth border on the identical.

“I went to a party the other night, and I thought I was walking into a yuppie cocktail gathering,” she said. “They were all well-dressed engineers. . . . I might as well have been back home in Boston.”

French for Yuppie

The French have their own ways of describing the yuppie, or young urban professional. Here the yuppies are “jeunes cadres dynamiques “--”dynamic young executives.”

In fashion terms, the traditional, conservative “in” look is described as B.C.B.G, for “bon chic, bon genre, “ roughly “good style, good breeding.” C.P.F.H., or “collier de perles, foulard Hermes, “ refers to the chic women who wear pearl necklaces and Hermes scarfs.

Despite their conformist attire, though, French youth are demonstrating a profound rejection of politics as usual. It is not that they are indifferent to social problems. It is rather that many young people detest politicians and political parties. A poll earlier this year in Le Point, a respected right-of-center news magazine, showed that 73% of France’s young people are not interested at all, or only marginally interested, in the “current political debate.”

Indifferent to Politics

Sixtine Bonnet, 23, an assistant manager at a popular restaurant near the Champs-Elysees, is typical of such young people. When questioned recently about what she thinks of France’s political situation, she answered:

“You’re asking me about a subject I never think about. I think about my work, my family and my friends. I try to enjoy my life as much as possible. I’m sick of politics, political men, and people who always talk about it.”

Indeed, the polls show that young people are increasingly alienated from traditional partisan politics. The survey in Le Point showed that only 13% of young people “sympathize” with any political party, and that only 2% are members of a party.

Many attribute this decline to disappointment with the Socialist President Francois Mitterrand.

Mitterrand Losing Backing

In the 1981 presidential election, 64% of the young voters chose the left. In May of that year, young people poured into the streets to celebrate the victory of the Socialists.

Four years later, with youth unemployment hovering around 20%, there is no more celebrating. In fact, surveys show that the French president has lost more than half of his support among young people.

Tragically, French youth take the same roads to escape as Americans when confronted with family problems, personal difficulties or a bleak economic situation. Drugs, alcohol, delinquency, running away and suicide are more common today than in the 1970s. The portion of youngsters who say they have experimented with drugs has increased from 5% in 1978 to 24% today. And the suicide rate among the young has doubled since 1964. This year it is estimated that between 15,000 and 40,000 adolescents will attempt suicide and that 1,000 will succeed.

Despite young people’s frustration with Mitterrand and their uncertainty about the future, many here are certain that French youth are still passionate about social justice and societal reform.

“The rejection of politics that you see in the polls does not mean there is a widespread rejection of social concerns,” said a 21-year-old French woman studying medicine in Paris. “Actually, they resent the parties that have for too long tried to manipulate them and use them for self-interest purposes, promising the world and never coming through.”

Desir, the SOS-Racism leader, said: “Political parties are finished. Young people today are tired of partisanship. No more rhetoric. No more promises. There’s a desire to hold hands and make a statement to the older generations. Today, we’re a more pragmatic generation. We’re less ambitious, but still as revolutionary. We believe we can transform society and social attitudes without violence or upheaval.”