Rhythms of protest (Paris)

Recorded by Des Coulam.

"The sounds were recorded here in Paris in October 2010 when one million people took to the streets to protest about the then Président, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his proposed reform of the French pension system.

One might think that demonstrations, or ‘manifestations’ as we call them in France, comprising one million people might be chaotic affairs but, on the contrary, they are usually very well organised.

For the most part they comprise individual groups each representing an organisation, a profession, or a special interest group. The individual groups can be made up of thousands of people or a mere handful and yet the group dynamics are the same for each. Each group has its leader and its followers. The leaders lead by orchestrating the behaviour of their group and sound plays a very important part in this. The instrument they use most often is the chant in the form of a call and response, the leader calls and the crowd responds. This can be a very powerful instrument and its power derives from the use rhythm and repetition.

The group leader sets the tone by choosing the words or phrases to be repeated and then manipulating the rhythm of the chant. Sometimes the changes of rhythm are obvious but often they are very subtle. As well as changing the rhythm the leader often changes a word or a phrase in the chant and the crowd responds accordingly.

What can be disturbing to watch and to listen to is how the leader can whip a crowd into frenzy by using sound. You can hear an example of this in the last two minutes or so of my sound piece beginning with the chant, “Tous Ensemble … Tous Ensemble … “.

The sound architecture seems to impose order and discipline on the demonstration. The chanting is a vehicle for protest; it allows the people to speak and to be heard. The repetition and rhythms of the chanting maintain the interest and enthusiasm of the crowd. The chanting seems to have a bonding effect creating the atmosphere of working as a team. If the demonstrators feel they are acting together in an orchestrated way and that their voice is being heard then perhaps they are less likely to resort to indiscriminate violence to make their point."

Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest