Les Misérables: Macron's 'sense of detachment' amid rising living costs and youth 'fears for future'

France’s escalating protest movement is exposing a widening disconnect between political leadership and public frustration, while raising questions about the country’s long tradition of social unrest. Chris Reynolds, Professor of French and European Studies at Nottingham Trent University, argues that President Emmanuel Macron’s latest address was characterised by a troubling “sense of detachment,” offering little to resolve the structural grievances driving the demonstrations.