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The Uprising of the Invisible People On November 17, 2018, France discovered a anger it had long ignored. From traffic circles to the Champs-Élysées, millions of ordinary citizens—workers, artisans, nurses, retirees—donned yellow vests to say “enough.” Enough with tax injustice. Enough with class contempt. Enough with a system that crushes the little people to protect the powerful. This movement did not arise from a political party or a labor union. It was born of the silent rage of those we call the “middle class” but who, in reality, struggle to make ends meet. It was born of one too...

A Movement Alive in Our Collective Memory People wanted to forget them. They said it was over, that the movement had run out of steam, that the pandemic had wiped everything away. But the Yellow Vests aren’t going away. They have left a deep mark on the French collective consciousness—and on the world at large, as their uprising has inspired similar movements in Chile, Iraq, and Lebanon. What the Yellow Vests have accomplished is historic. They have brought the issue of the Citizens’ Initiative Referendum (RIC) back to the center of the political debate. Above all, they have demonstrated...