Book Review: Savoir Commencer une Grève

Romain Castellesi’s first book, published by Éditions Agone, is an important contribution to studies of French deindustrialization and of working-class expression more generally. It offers a comparative study of five working-class regions that have been disrupted by the economic transformations of the “second half of the 20th century”: Romans-sur-Isère (southeast), Carmaux (south), Grand Couronne (northwest), Autun (center), and Sochaux (east). Now considered “critical areas,” these regions were once home to some of the best industries in luxury footwear, textiles, coal, and auto manufacturing, respectively.

Originally written for his thesis, the author draws on a wide and relevant bibliography, both academic and non-academic, which provides important context, and with a strong emphasis on state and press archives. Above all, there is a significant use of oral interviews; there is a noticeable desire to place the workers at the center of the story, with a raw transcription of the comments gathered during the research. These discussions highlight the complexity of industrial closure at the community and individual levels, allowing readers to interact with the interviewees’ feelings. Castellesi captured the spirit of oral history by working on both its form and content. One notable aspect of my reading is the author’s use of non-academic vocabulary when addressing the interviewee; this facilitates discussion and builds trust. History is returned to the hands of the workers, not the historian.

Through an excellent comparison between the protests of 1968 and those after 1973, Castellesi highlights that the latter emerged from a need for survival, while the former was a demand for new benefits.

Two forms of revolt then emerge: the material and the symbolic. The author formulates a key phrase: “We must leave the factory walls behind to make ourselves heard.” The struggle leaves the closed space of the workplace and takes to the streets, using symbols and bodies. It is a way of asserting that these workers “are able to articulate their skills with the developments of capitalism.” These men and women, too often invisible, try—even if it means resorting to illegal means—to gain some visibility in the public eye. Kidnappings, factory or transport blockades, and targeted attacks: they give themselves the means to make an impression. The author highlights the use of their work tools and manufactured products as symbols of uprising. Workers reclaim the objects they have been working on for years, objects initially designed for production and profit, but never for their personal use. By diverting them from their primary function, these objects become tools for protest. Symbols of uprising. The interviews provide insight into the rifts caused by industrial closure: it is not just a loss of jobs, but a working-class identity that is under threat. Castellesi’s attention to the vocabulary workers use to refer to “traitors” (those who refuse to strike or accept financial compensation in exchange for withdrawing from the movement) highlights the author’s mastery of the interviews. This often violent lexicon reveals less an intrinsic brutality than a feeling of abandonment and a breakdown in collective ties. By reproducing it without toning it down, the author allows us to grasp the intensity of an anger that, far from being circumstantial, continues to shape workers’ memories more than forty years after the events.

One of the book’s major contributions lies in its focus on women. Castellesi shows how deindustrialization is accompanied by a dual movement among women: gaining independence through work and, through its loss, returning to traditional roles. The author emphasizes that women, workers, and mothers are at the forefront of the struggles: they take care of the children, cook for the picket lines, participate in demonstrations, and support their husbands in their struggles. It is worth noting the importance of manipulating the image of women in male movements, thereby reproducing gender hierarchies within the struggle itself. The author wishes to share the lives of workers and to contradict their brutal, violent image, but does not shy away from highlighting the controversies.

Will we learn how to start a strike as we read? No, the aim is not to demonstrate a conflict between winners and losers, but rather to show how an uprising unfolds, its difficulties, its solidarity, its struggles, its fears, and the hopes of the workers of the “second 20th century.” The aim of the research is clear: to dispel the notion that violence is intrinsic to the working class.

Moving away from the classic academic format—theory, example—Castellesi offers us a fluid reading that avoids breaks between chapters. By avoiding these jerks, the structure allows for an interweaving of analyses that highlights the similarities between French labor movements. The author does not compare them; he highlights the patterns that surround them.

Although contextualizing the phenomenon of deindustrialization plays a major role in the book, this choice may seem relevant to open the concepts to a wider audience. Why limit oneself to a specialized academic readership?

Finally, although this book primarily addresses the process of deindustrialization and its consequences, it nevertheless provides an excellent basis for understanding the formation and dynamics of social struggles. By placing workers’ forms of expression—speeches, gestures, symbolic uses of objects and bodies—at the heart of his analysis, Castellesi shows that these mobilizations, observed throughout France, correspond to widely shared logics. This approach thus allows going beyond the strictly national framework and treating these experiences as representative of similar phenomena observed across different industrial areas. Anyone interested in modern struggles, such as those of the yellow vests, should spend a few hours immersed in this book.