The French government is hiding behind a ‘riots’ narrative

Images from the violent unrest in France have travelled around the world. Smashed shop windows, destroyed property, acts of looting and raging fires have rightly caused outrage and condemnation.There is no single explanation of the motives of the perpetrators. There are certainly opportunistic “criminal elements” who take advantage of such situations. But there is also a lot of public anger that has boiled over after it had simmered for years as living conditions have deteriorated and demands for changes have been left unanswered.The French government has taken full advantage of these violent acts, using them to justify the overly securitised response to the protests and to avoid public scrutiny for the failure to address its own failures. The images of chaos allow those in power to pose as the defenders of a public order they have actively helped undermine.These acts of violence, however, cannot delegitimise the reasons behind the mass mobilisation of students across France. They also must not distract from the brutal police violence that has unfolded.Fourteen-year-old Eden suffered a fractured jaw and had teeth knocked out by a tear gas grenade fired from a police launcher. Sixte...