All tagged Alley Valkyrie
Social critic Alley Valkyrie returns to the podcast to provide analysis of the recent election in France. She discusses the French far-right's long-term efforts to remake their image and gather widespread support, in ways that are both surprising but contextually understandable, making tremendous gains in the first round of the parliamentary snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron.
Social critic and activist Alley Valkyrie returns to the podcast to discuss the recent wave of strikes and civil disrupt in France. As someone who has spent most of their life within the borders of the United States and a current resident of Rennes, France, Alley provides a well-rounded description of events that have led to one of the largest strikes and protests in recent memory in the nation.
Anglophone media rarely provides accurate insight into the protests in French society. Regarding the nationwide labor strikes and confrontational protests in major French metropolitan areas over the past several weeks, US media in particular simplifies the demands of those participating in them, resorting to common stereotypes and tropes of the lazy French and the robust social welfare system that spoil them. The reforms neoliberal president Emmanuel Macron forces through the legislature that strip hard-earned gains of the citizens of France are minimized, whether subtly or overtly. Having lived in Rennes for the better part of a decade now, Alley cuts through much of those cultural biases common in the nation she was born and raised, and what these strikes are really addressing, including the risks that come with them, both presently and in the coming years.
The fertile grounds that bred a novel, deadly coronavirus and the misinformation that accompanied its spread is our subject. Over the last year-and-a-half since COVID spilled over, and more specifically, when our collective reaction to it began to reshape every aspect of our lives, I conducted numerous interviews to make sense of this thing.
In this episode, I speak with Alley Valkyrie about the recent events in western France regarding the communal, long-term occupation at the ZAD (French: zone à défendre; English: zone to defend). Alley provides a much-needed explanation of the events currently unfolding there, contextualizing and expounding on the cultural, political, and historical trends that have led to the present situation on the ground.
