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Put a lid on it! How the pot became a global protest symbol
As authorities try to put the lid on the protests, we look at how the humble kitchen utensil became a global symbol of resistance.
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A demonstrator takes part in a pan-banging protest during French President Emmanuel Macron’s televised address to the nation, after he signed into law a pensions reform, in Strasbourg, eastern France on April 17, 2023. Macron on April 15 addressed France for the first time since signing into law his controversial pension reform, facing warnings the political and social crisis it sparked is not over. Macron signed the legislation just hours after the banner change to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 had been validated by the constitutional court on April 14, prompting accusations he was smuggling the law through in the dead of night.
(AFP /Frederick Florin)
F
rench President Emmanuel Macron's recent public appearances have been met with a clamour of pot clanging by demonstrators furious over his decision to hike the retirement age.
As authorities try to put the lid on the protests, we look at how the humble kitchen utensil became a global symbol of resistance.
Bashing the French king
The saucepan's second life as a symbol of politically charged protest began in 1830s France after the July Revolution that led to the abdication of Charles X.
Republicans opposed to the new king, Louis Philippe, "sought to make their voices heard by borrowing from reality a customary ritual" known as charivari, or making loud noise, French historian Emmanuel Fureix explained to France Culture radio in 2017.
The ritual dated from the Middle Ages when villagers sought to humiliate an ill-matched marriage -- generally a widower to a much younger bride -- with a thundering concert of c, known in French as "casseroles".
Hullabaloo in Latin America
