Fear of a Yellow Vest Planet

Fear of a Yellow Planet: The Gilets Jaunes and the End of the World provides a compelling account of one of the most misunderstood movements of recent times. Tracing its history and practices, Wilkin convincingly situates Gilets Jaunes in relation to central developments in the modern world-system and, in so doing, significantly advances our understanding of protest movements today. This book is recommended reading for anyone interested in the current populist moment and what it means for progressive politics. -- Lina Dencik, Cardiff Univeristy Wilkin sees the world in a single protest movement and does so in style. Fears of a Yellow Planet is a refreshing, and much needed, counter-perspective on progressive populism, too long derided and conflated with its negative counterparts. The book offers a compelling case study of the Gilets Jaunes as people's politics in action, expertly situated within its wider historical, conceptual and political frames of reference. Compellingly written and timely, it deserves careful attention from all those seriously invested in thinking through and beyond the major problems confounding our global and national systems. -- Sophie Scott-Brown, University of East Anglia Peter Wilkin's accessible and scholarly work expertly explains the ideological, economic ,and cultural context from which the French Gilet Jaunes movement emerged. The book draws out significant differences in forms of populism and in doing so carefully defuses myths about the movement. Fear of a Yellow Planet's sympathetic analysis of the Gilet Jaunes provides a valuable resource for all those interested in contemporary French politics as well as those resisting neoliberal capitalism, especially during its authoritarian and chauvinistic turn. -- Benjamin Franks, University of Glasgow and author of Anarchisms, Postanarchisms and Ethics