Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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The heartbeat of the yellow jacket revolt is rural
The 'gilets jaunes' is not an urban revolt but one of the impoverished countryside, making the rebellion more rooted in the French masses than even May 1968. PAUL CUDENEC interviewed a group of small town rebels typical of the movement, occupying a local roundabout
400 miles from Paris, the rebels of St Hippo are typical of the yellow jacket movement: long standing locals, middle-aged, poor, and unable to go on. Since November 17 they have kept their goodnatured vigil on a roundabout, cooking on a barbecue
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
THE eyes of the world were on Paris on Saturday December 15 for Act V of the astonishing uprising of the gilets jaunes.
But the clouds of tear gas which once again filled the Champs Elysees hid an aspect of the revolt which sometimes goes unnoticed by those who talk only of the demonstrations held in the French capital.
What is remarkable about the uprising is that it is a thoroughly decentralised affair, which can boast roots in provincial France that the urban upstarts of 1968 could only have dreamed of.
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