For some, he is the face of politicised youth in France, one that wants to speak out, participate and have more visibility. For others, he is just a child, perhaps manipulated and lacking much credibility. Manès Nadel is now 17 years old, but he became known last year during the demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform. His youth, but above all his oratory, propelled him into the country’s media landscape. For a while, he was out of the spotlight. Until he reappeared at a rally of the left-wing alliance New Popular Front, shortly before the first round of the early legislative elections that end this Sunday.
His figure is fascinating and at the same time raises doubts due to the media overexposure to which he has been subjected. He has been invited to special programmes, interviewed by news channels and on television sets. He has sometimes been compared to the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg. He, on the other hand, defines himself differently. “I am actually a trade unionist,” he says during an interview near his high school, in an affluent neighbourhood of the French capital. Neither a youth leader nor a spokesperson, adds the teenager, dressed in a green T-shirt and jeans.
During the protests against Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age, Nadel was the representative of a high school students’ association called La Voix Lycéenne. Today, he is the vice-president of another group, the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL), affiliated with the CGT union – the second largest in France – which, according to him, brings together around 3,500 students across the country. Their actions include demonstrations, blockading schools – such as the one that made him known – or distributing leaflets for future elections. In recent weeks, these students have clearly positioned themselves in favour of the New Popular Front and have called for support for its candidates, from La France Insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communist Party.
On June 17, Nadel was invited to the first campaign rally of the left-wing alliance, created to try to prevent the far-right National Rally (RN) party from winning the legislative elections, called after the defeat suffered in the European elections. During the meeting, he grabbed the microphone and, standing on stage, quoted a phrase attributed to Lenin: “There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades pass.” And he added, raising his voice and gesticulating as many politicians are wont to do: “There are two weeks left before we make the social republic a reality in France, and for its social conquests to be anchored in this Republic.” His ease of oratory and his determination recalled his past interventions in front of the cameras, in which he has always handled himself with great confidence.
A figure that divides
Knowing what’s happening outside means understanding what’s going to happen inside, so don’t miss anything.
KEEP READING
Sitting in a café, he admits that he is aware that the way he expresses himself can attract attention, given his age. “It is not a gift, it is also a question of luck,” he explains, citing the concept of cultural capital by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. “Being in a somewhat cultured environment, with family, teachers, that also helps to have a structure for speaking,” he says. His father is an economics professor and his mother a civil servant. He has four siblings, although he prefers not to talk about them. Between his work in the student association and school, he says he does not have much free time. Nor does he talk too much about what he likes to do, apart from these activities, although he does say that he likes music. “Journalists really like that kind of question,” he jokes.
When he started to attract media attention, he thought it was not entirely healthy and that it revealed a certain form of sensationalism. But then he decided together with the organisation that they would use the podium to communicate their demands, and give their points of view on the current political and social situation in the country. Among the main concerns of the association are the rise of the extreme right, which has options to take power in these legislative elections, and the climate crisis. “For me there is an urgent need to radically change our way of working,” says the young man, who is also very active on social media. He has more than 62,000 followers on X, 21,000 on Instagram and almost 37,000 on TikTok.
His activism is both surprising and annoying. His language contrasts with his teenage appearance, and has sometimes sparked hostile reactions on social media, but also from politicians and journalists. “Let him work first, do his studies and then he will build society,” reacted, for example, the former Minister of Finance and Labor. Eric Woerthcurrently part of the Macronist bloc. When it is suggested that he has been instrumentalized by adults or even politicians, he answers, as he did in an interview in 2023 for The Parisian: “Just because we are 15 years old doesn’t mean we don’t know how to think and that we are necessarily indoctrinated.” In response to critics who accuse him of being part of LFI, he says he is not a member of the party and that his association has not received funding from Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party.
Neither Nadel nor his colleagues are yet old enough to vote. But they do not hesitate to express their opinions and to inform themselves about what is happening in the country. The teenager speaks of a “democratic deficit” and, to justify it, cites the fact that Macron has resorted to Article 49.3 of the Constitution to approve the pension reform. The procedure, which allows the parliamentary vote to be bypassed, is democratic and constitutional, but it has fuelled accusations of authoritarianism and widened the gap that already separated the president from public opinion.
Nadel still has a year left to finish school. As he walks past his school, he greets a member of the teaching staff. He doesn’t yet know what he would like to study, although he mentions courses such as political science or international relations. But for now, he prefers to focus on the present. Then we’ll see.
Follow all the international information atFacebook andXor inour weekly newsletter.
.
.
_
