The presidential majority youth movement is launching a communication campaign to support a possible candidacy of Emmanuel Macron in 2022. Students put up the first posters on the Dijon campus this Saturday, September 18.
The story begins before the credits. Night is falling. The decor is reminiscent of a remake of the film “Cold Buffet” by Bertrand Blier. Not a cat on the Dijon campus of the University of Burgundy this “Saturday September 18, 2021 at 8 pm”.
Finally, yes, a clerk crosses the parking lot of the new BU Le Cortex, flattening himself in the dark. So a cat and a few students waiting for the tram at Erasmus station while listening to rap coming out of connected speakers.
Something is brewing not far from there. A group of students sneak past the large buildings with late 20th century architecture. Gutenberg and Galileo discuss the subject. Generic.
A reference to the American cultural universe
“Emmanuel Macron, president of the young” appears in title. The poster is inspired by the American platform Netflix, the one that threatens the balance of funding for French cinema. Black dominates, red dramatizes, the hero does not appear in his best light.
The poster inevitably makes one think of “House of Cards”, the US series which narrated the very undemocratic rise of a Democrat to the Oval Office. The American cultural universe is invoked even in the slogan “strongly that we sign for 5 more seasons”, echoing “four more yearsChanted in the re-election campaigns.
The JAM wrote the screenplay, in other words the Young With Macron. In the casting, Gaétan, Anaïs, Léo, Margaux, Chiara, Arsène … all together fully intend to play a role in the electoral campaign. Except that since the hold-up carried out during the 2017 presidential election, other gangs have been copying them: the Jeunes Avec Montebourg or Generation Z.
“Renewing the codes of politics”
Absent that day, Aubin Aimes speaks in voiceover. The JAM departmental referent for Côte-d’Or coordinated the action of the day (read our article). the pitch comes as no surprise: “the objective is to take advantage of the start of the academic year to make a political comeback and to have dynamism in the field. We are for the president [de la République] is leaving for a candidacy, to renew a new mandate ”.
Health crisis, economic difficulties, environmental emergency … Emmanuel Macron is “devoted to the affairs of the country more than to his candidacy”. Also, as a presidential majority youth party, the JAMs highlight the boss’s record.
With this poster and this re-entry, the JAM intend to rediscover the “disruptiveness” of 2017 and “renew the codes of politics”. The famous poster in red and black and white was developed internally at the national level by Arthur Limiñana, vice-president of JAM, and Maxime Hérault, coordinator of regional teams, before being validated by Ambroise Méjean, president of the national council. It is even said that the Elysee has given its imprint.
“We are the most active in the field”
The carriers discreetly delivered 50,000 impressions throughout France with a focus on the campuses. “Universities are our spearhead. We want to reach out to young people, ”continues Aubin Aimes, a student at the Sciences Po site in Dijon.
“We are the most active in the field, it can be seen even on the billboards”, claims the JAM which concedes at most that there is “a minority of far-right people who make some collages of from time to time ”. “We are here to fight against these ideas”, he hastens to add, “student unionism is in a certain way in crisis, we are proposing a form of engagement which is disruptive. We are also there to deal with student unions who have good ideas to put on the table ”.
First face-to-face meeting for some JAMs
Head of the ideas pole within the JAM of Côte-d’Or, Gaétan Gouyon, 22, coordinated the pre-re-entry action this Saturday evening while Anaïs Gagelin, 20, responsible for the operational pole of the JAM of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, managed the mobilization. He is a student in a master’s 2 degree in Banking, Heritage and Insurance at the University of Burgundy. She is a dual-degree student in Economics and Applied Foreign Languages at the University of Burgundy.
In charge of the JAM BFC, Léo Dulas came from Saône-et-Loire to help establish the link with the various departmental components. At 19, Léo Dulas is a law student at Paris 1.
“Our mission is to take charge of student mobilization and bring back the ideas of this generation. Currently, we are updating all the data to prepare for the presidential campaign. Soon, we will organize agoras to bring out some projects, ”explains Margaux Montfalcon, 19, who is responsible for student life for the JAM BFC and a student at Sciences Po on the Dijon campus.
Also present are Chiara Martinelli, 20, a student at Sciences Po, who arrived from Italy in 2020 and Arsène Le Moigne, 19, also at Science Po, who arrived from Czech Republic in 2020.
Between closed bars and small apartments, students were hardly able to exchange face-to-face during the year 2020-2021 marked by the health crisis. Zoom and Telegram have taken over. Also, after months of discussions, some JAMs meet for the first time for this collage action.
“We represent the future”
Gaétan Gouyon leads the debate on ideas between the JAMs, which have their own proposals, sometimes on political positions different from those of the government. Thus, the JAMs came out in favor of the legalization of cannabis “framed” by the granting of licenses and accompanied by an “ambitious prevention program”.
Plan 1 young 1 solution, assistance in the hiring of apprentices, abolition of compulsory mutuals, reduction in housing tax are put forward to offset the drop in APL. The JAMs are keen to explain to young people reaching the age of voters what the situation was like for students under previous governments.
“Being focused on a young theme, we can be more informed than our parents, (…) this movement is important, we represent the future”, insists Anaïs Gagelin.
With a European point of view, Chiara Martinelli mentions the one euro meal for students during the pandemic, a proposition difficult to imagine in Italy. Arsène Le Moigne emphasizes the ease of travel provided by the vaccination certificate for French people living abroad.
“The JAMs have always been upstream”
“It is important to communicate that he is a president very supported by young people,” says Gaétan Gouyon. “It’s natural for us to get into the movement, the JAMs have always been upstream,” adds Léo Dulas. Then the group resumes the collage while the moon rises in the Dijon night. The poster battle has only just begun.
With the start of the school year, debates will be held on campuses, starting with the well-being and purchasing power of young people. A highlight will be organized at the end of September to bring together the JAMs from the university, the Sciences Po En Marche association and civil society in order to discuss with parliamentarians.
Jean-Christophe Tardivon
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