After Grenoble, Lille. This Tuesday, April 4, Pierre Mathiot, the president of Sciences Po Lille posted an incisive message on the school’s Facebook account, about “unacceptable actions”. He reveals that, on the night of Sunday to Monday, the names of eleven students were tagged on a building under construction located just opposite the school under the words “Wall of shame”.
Nine of them were candidates on the Get Involved list in the last student elections. “They have in common to have issued in the recent period of public criticism, or on mailing lists, on the way in which the social movement was conducted in our school, especially against the use of blockages”, continues Pierre Mathiot.
These facts are disturbingly reminiscent of the tags placed on a wall at Sciences Po Grenoble two years ago. On March 4, 2021, the names of professors Klaus Kinzler and Vincent Tournier were plastered on a wall in front of the establishment, accompanied by the words “fascists” and “Islamophobia kills”. The conclusion of a period of conflict between these teachers and the Union Syndicale, the majority union of the IEP, split from the Unef.
“Thought Police”
700 kilometers away, the same causes seem to have produced the same effects. “These practices (…) aim to impose a police of thought, a single vision of the good, of what it is possible to say and forbidden to express. Those who deviate from it are accused without nuance of to be “fascists” or “identitarians””, indignant Pierre Mathiot in his press release. The students targeted should very soon file a complaint against X for public insults, supported by the school management who, “if this complaint succeeds”, will initiate “disciplinary proceedings on its side.”
Thomas* (who prefers to remain anonymous for fear of seeing his name tagged in turn), fourth-year student at Sciences Po Lille and former elected member of the Board of Directors, gives some keys to the context around this stigma: ” Students led by the IEP Mobilisé collective, rather classified on the far left on the political spectrum, have been blocking or trying to block the school for almost three weeks as part of the mobilization against pensions, “he says. Monday, March 27, during a general assembly, several students would have expressed themselves against the continuation of the blocking operations, including the people who saw their names tagged on the famous wall. “In the first and second years, the Covid crisis had already forced us to go remotely, which had caused us to fall quite a bit behind. That demonstrations are taking place within the IEP, we can hear it. But from the moment it worsens the teaching conditions, then it starts to annoy everyone a little”, continues Thomas, raised against a “very dynamic minority which imposes its way of thinking on others”.
Mobilized IEP close to Solidaires
Appeared in 2018, the Facebook page of the IEP de Lille mobilized collective suggests a closeness with the Solidaires union, whose positions have been relayed on several occasions. The collective notably opposed the arrival in the school of MEP François-Xavier Bellamy (Les Républicains), described as a “homophobic and sexist character”, as he had criticized in 2020 the invitation of Pierre Moscovici, a “figure of authoritarian neo-liberalism”. IEP Lille mobilized, however, did not claim the operation of the “wall of shame”. What is his position on this action? Contacted, the collective had not yet responded to L’Express at the time of publication of this article. In recent weeks, this group, the spearhead of the blockades of the establishment, has repeatedly attacked Pierre Mathiot, guilty of having spoken out against the cessation of classes within the IEP, just like the Get Involved list.
Alexandre Agache, founder of this list considered centre-right by France 3, a second-year student, explains the position of his organization: “During the blockades of recent weeks, our partisan list simply wished to recall and advocate the freedom of all. Namely both the freedom to demonstrate and that of accessing to the premises so that everyone can have a calm and serene place but also a good Internet connection, which the most precarious students do not always benefit from”, he says. The student is not among those who have had their names posted. “But my other comrades concerned find themselves slandered in the public square, insulted and even pilloried for the simple fact of having defended the freedom of each and everyone. So it particularly affected and hurt them personally”, insists Alexandre Agache.
“It is not normal to denounce people”
Before responding to L’Express, Alexandre Limanton, enrolled in the fourth year of Sciences Po Lille, took care to survey his comrades. “Around me, everyone condemns these inscriptions globally. If we have disagreements, we must talk about it and debate it. It is not normal in a democratic process to denounce people, which could have serious consequences such as lead to violence,” he said. However, this student says, like many others, fiercely opposed to pension reform. Even if he is not himself part of the mobilized Lille IEP collective, he considers it necessary “to establish a balance of power with the government” by passing, in particular, by blocking his establishment. “A demonstration blocks public order, strikes are the same. Our objective is not to ruin the studies of others, knowing that ours are also very affected. The best would be to block the days of national mobilization and , the other days, to do actions”, he says.
What will be the consequences of Pierre Mathiot’s press release? “We have been striving for more than two months to try to hold together different, even contradictory aspirations. I really thank you for helping us to achieve this objective, except to permanently jeopardize what makes us move forward together”, concludes the president of Sciences Po Lille in its press release.
