This is Jacobin Radio and I'm Susie Weisman.

We're in the midst of a wave of mass protests across the globe against economic austerity and neoliberal policies

that only add to economic insecurity. States have increasingly used

authoritarian repressive measures to crack down on the protests.

Neoliberal capitalism is in severe crisis nearly everywhere and simmering tensions

have reached the boiling point in Iran, Iraq, Hong Kong, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, France, and beyond.

Today we're going to look at both the French and Iranian protest movements,

two completely different cases where masses of people have taken to the streets and have faced the

violent response from police and authorities, more deadly to be sure in Iran, and we examine the

underlying issues motivating the protests.

We begin with Stathas Kuvilacus in France to get his analysis of the scope and breadth of the

protest movement that is paralyzed France since December 5th as railway and transport workers have been joined

by teachers, nurses, students, and Yellowves in strikes and demonstrations more than a million

strong against President Macron's attacks on pension and the welfare state.

The trade unions, Yellow Vests, youth, and other sectors have converged in the most powerful opposition movement seen in France in decades,

resisting Macron's attempts to be the French Thatcher.

We then turn to Iran, speaking to political sociologist Kevin Harris about the spectacular illegal

protest movement there since November 15th. The government has responded

brutally killing at least 200 and arresting thousands.

Not unlike the spark for the Yellow Vest movement in France over the last year, the Iranian

protests began over the hike in gas prices, but economic insecurity, the breakup of the social contract, high inflation

and negative economic growth were big factors, and the government shut down of the internet

...