About this episode

The episode discusses the crackdown on unauthorized raves in France, the impact of regional accents, and the historical significance of the Front Populaire in shaping the welfare state.

A crackdown on France's unauthorised raves threatens an outlet for young people. How regional accents in France can hold you back. And the Front Populaire, which laid the foundations of France's welfare state. The French government has vowed to crack down on unauthorised raves, known as "free parties", with a proposed law that would punish organisers with up to six months in prison and hefty fines. While the interior minister claims such gatherings threaten public order, free party fans defend their right to meet and share techno music outside of for-profit venues. Electronic music producer Maelström, who cut his teeth DJing at rave parties in France as a teenager in the late 1990s, looks back at the growth of that counter-culture and how it shaped his own music. Rather than repressing rave culture, he argues the state should help young people make such gatherings safe and sustainable. (Listen @2'15'') France has dozens of regional accents, but you wouldn't know it to listen to broadcasters or politicians – most of whom have learned to speak a standardised form of French shaped in Paris. Sociologist Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus dissects his own Marseille accent and others from around…

People in this episode

Guests: Maelström, Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus

Topics covered

• unauthorized raves
• regional accents
• Front Populaire
• youth culture
• public order
• welfare state

Keywords

• raves
• accents
• Front Populaire
• youth
• public order
• welfare state
• France
• techno music
• sociology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: French government, Front Populaire

Places: France, Marseille

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