The profiles present in the demonstrations are very diverse, as many segments of the population are experiencing different forms of frustration (Library photo: Nader Ghavami/Maison Moderne)

The profiles present in the demonstrations are very diverse, as many segments of the population are experiencing different forms of frustration (Library photo: Nader Ghavami/Maison Moderne)

The incidents that occurred during the demonstration against coronavirus restrictions on Saturday show that social tension has increased by several degrees, with both pro and anti-vaxxers frustrated with the pandemic.

Christmas markets were closed, the Gëlle Fra was stormed, insults were hurled at the police and the media, barriers were torn down, the Chamber of Deputies was besieged for a few moments, the prime minister's home was attacked by demonstrators, as was the home of a minister in his government... Saturday afternoon in Luxembourg City was marked by various outbursts during a demonstration against pandemic restrictions. These events, unanimously condemned by politicians, are evidence of increased social tension. They also raise questions of how this anger was born, how it has grown and who is carrying it.

Social tensions that are building up

Emotions were high. “We can understand it, but we must also put it into perspective. If the emotion is high, it is also because Luxembourg is not used to this kind of event and has little experience of radicalisation movements. It was almost unimaginable that an egg would be thrown at the prime minister's house. Although we are far--and this is fortunate--from the levels of violence known in France, for example, it nevertheless shows that these things are also possible here,” says professor Louis Chauvel, head of the Institute for Research on Socio-Economic Inequality (IRSEI) at the University of Luxembourg.

One of the subjects of his research is precisely these “strong social tensions that build up underground, like telluric forces, until the day comes when the earthquake destroys everything, what we call the ‘Big One’ in California.”

This social tension stems, in particular, from frustration within the middle class, he says. “Until the early 2000s, the middle class had an ‘easy’ life, stable employment, dynamic wages… in Luxembourg too, where a good salary allowed access to property. But that has now changed, and it is difficult to claim to have the same standard of living as one’s parents, even if the middle class has become a little richer over the last 20 years.”

The cost of living has risen, particularly in terms of housing. Access to property, for example, a real life goal for some generations, has become extremely difficult to achieve. “You hear more and more people in Luxembourg saying: ‘At my age, my parents already had a five-room apartment'’,” he says. “Becoming a homeowner in Luxembourg, even on a good salary, has become complex, unless you are part of families who are what I call ‘insiders’ of property.”

This difficulty in acquiring property and coming to the realisation that one’s standard of living will, at some point, be lower than that of the previous generation, is therefore painful and frustrating. “This is a constant in the surveys conducted on anti-vaccines, identical to what we see in the middle class: a certain malaise and the consideration that it was better before,” Chauvel continues.

But to reduce this to the middle class--in which we can include civil servants, teachers, private sector employees--would be a mistake. In Luxembourg, the more affluent classes are now also experiencing this frustration, “as is the case in Switzerland, Singapore, Manhattan... wherever there is a lot of tension about access to property.” And the fact that people have to live further away from their place of work and are then faced with the inconvenience of mobility problems does not make things any easier. Nor does the fact that more and more Luxembourgers have no other option than to live outside their own country.

Many of the demonstrators have been struck by these frustrations. “In Germany, we can see that the people demonstrating are more men aged 40-45 than very young people,” says Chauvel.

They doubt science, the government, the media...

This frustration can then turn into anger, via a snowball effect triggered by other elements that characterise the anti-vaccine movement. “In Luxembourg, as in other countries, these are people who distrust science, who have little confidence in their government, who distrust the economic system, the media or what the future may hold. All this can become systemic. In France, the Yellow Vests movement was the culmination of this.”

The reasons for their anger can be very different. So can the economic profiles, and likewise with regard to social characteristics. The protesters can be graduates even if, “when you have a bachelor's or master's degree, you seem less anti-vaccine”. Moreover, "it is a world that is often not very political, or only temporarily so. Again: the yellow vests had no political leadership, but were part of a rejection of politics.”

In contrast, the anti-vaccine crowd is very active on social networks. The audience of the Luxembourg silent marches can therefore agglomerate moderate protesters, but also radicals “eager to test the limits””

Pro-vaccine for a return to “normal life”

A radicalism that can also be found among those pro-vaccine, “some of whom are asking that the health care of anti-vaxxers no longer be reimbursed, which is going very far.” It’s an attack on the principle of solidarity that governs societies in most social democracies. 

And, while the common denominator with pro-vaxxers is the desire to “return to a normal life as soon as possible”, they too may experience frustration, fear and doubt. “The sword of Damocles that is the possible closure of schools is something that can no longer be accepted. Economic life must remain possible, so schools must remain open for children to be elsewhere,” Chauvel said.

This is why the most extreme call for vaccination in addition to the mandatory wearing of the FFP2 mask. “That’s wearing both a belt and braces. These people want to push the government further in its measures,” says Chauvel. They also often feel that the government has been wrong since September, that the third dose should have been better prepared and more quickly.

For the pro-vaxxers, the stability of the social system must sometimes come at the cost of certain public freedoms, “because without that, we won’t make it.”

And it is often between these radical sub-groups that the strongest tensions and oppositions arise. “The spectrum is wide. The yellow vests, again, were middle class people, but also political elites and highly educated people who were backing them. In Luxembourg, people are quite rational, so radicalism is less present than elsewhere. But the borders are porous, and highly organised groups, such as the ‘black blocs’, are always looking to come where it will hurt.”

Phenomena that are still calming down, but not to be ignored

The frustration machine “is also on the move in Luxembourg”. And as the situation worsens in the eyes of many, frustrations will increase in the various segments of the population. These frustrations and angers are a bit “like toothpaste that comes out of the tube--you don't know how to put it back in once it's out,” says Chauvel, adding that “history has shown that these movements eventually calm down.”

But a debate on the future is nevertheless needed--uniting all the components of society, “but also the cross-border workers”--to ultimately bring back more calm, because, “in France, even without the yellow vests, Marine Le Pen and Zemmour still have 30% of voting intentions, without forgetting the extreme left.”

Recent weeks have been a reminder that social issues are real, also in Luxembourg, and it will be crucial not to trivialise a phenomenon that is anything but marginal.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.