From Memes to Mobilisation: France’s Growing Tax Revolt
22nd July 2025
Starting with a meme and a joke on social media, the ‘Nicolas’ movement—named after a common first name that now symbolises the frustration of young working people in France—has become a mass phenomenon in just a few weeks. It speaks to workers who feel they are financing a bloated state that has nothing to offer them in return. Meanwhile, other French people are rallying under the banner of the ‘Gueux’ (beggars) and making their discontent heard. Could the government now be facing a new wave of unrest similar to the Yellow Vest movement, which paralysed the country in 2018?
Two informal social revolt movements have been stirring France for several months.