Tales of Resistance

How often do you feel the need to stand up against injustice? The urge to fight for a better society? You are not alone. History is filled with half-forgotten stories that still have much to teach us. Today, resistance is framed as tales of individual heroism, single figures defying power. But hidden behind these narratives lie other stories, stories that reveal a different vision of society and political action. Those stories tell us that together people can make a difference. And let it be clear: this is not mere moralism, but a reality forged out of experience.

In my search for such stories, I went back to two interesting episodes of resistance: the revolts of the Canuts, the silk workers of Lyon—and the courageous march of the women of Grand-Bassam. Their struggles teach us that even against the most oppressive forces, hope never dies; that even when a fight seems futile, it can inspire future generations; and that, against all odds, victory can finally be achieved.

I hope their stories inspire you as much as they have inspired me.

Lyon, 1831: just a year before, in 1830, a revolution in Paris had overthrown the absolute monarchy of Charles X, brother of the guillotined Louis XVI. But fresh battles followed hard upon their heels. Those who had fought together are now opponents: workers against the bourgeoisie. As the Industrial Revolution transformed society, workers flooded into factories and filled the expanding suburbs of the great cities. A new social order was being born.

In Lyon, the silk workers, known as Canuts, demanded and won a tariff to protect the value of their labour against falling prices. Factory owners, nevertheless, invoking economic freedom as the ultimate revolutionary principle, sought to eliminate these protections. The workers revolted. The promises of the revolution already seemed lost, its ideals restricted to the new elite. There was freedom of the press, but not to demand higher wages, freedom of association, but not in front of the factories. In despair, the Canuts raised a black flag over the revolutionary tricolour, and the liberal-revolutionary government in Paris sent the army to crush their rebellion.

But the fight was not over. Three years later, when wages were once again arbitrarily lowered, the Canuts rose up once more. Fighting raged for a week, and by the time the government recaptured the city, 10,000 insurgents were imprisoned. Ironically, it was the royalist supporters of the old regime who expressed the most sympathy for the workers, while the new bourgeois elite dismissed them as savages.

Chateaubriand wrote: "This revolt announces the end of a society and the beginning of a new one." And how right he was. The events in Lyon deeply influenced early socialist and anarchist thinkers like Proudhon and the followers of Saint-Simon, and in the following century workers drew inspiration from the Canuts' rebellion.

Grand-Bassam, 1949: More than a century later, the world had changed once more. This time, the struggle was unfolding in colonial Africa, in what was then French Ivory Coast. Members of the Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast—African Democratic Rally, had been imprisoned and left indefinitely without trial. Months passed, and their situation remained unchanged. In desperation, they began a hunger strike. With their health deteriorating, their wives and relatives organized political actions, demanding their release. Their cries fell on deaf ears.

Determined to take action, the women called for a demonstration and decided to bring their protest directly to the prison. Organizing was no simple task: they came from different ethnic backgrounds and spoke different languages. Yet, they were united in purpose. Setting out from Abidjan in small groups to evade the authorities, they marched through beaches and coconut groves, making their way to Grand-Bassam.

When they finally reached the prison, they were met with water cannons and tear gas. But their efforts were not in vain. Once passed down only through oral tradition, their story has since been rediscovered and is now recognized as a foundational moment in the anti-colonial struggle.

I will not add a conclusion to these stories. They can be taken as individual events worth remembering or as examples of a bigger fight for justice. I’ll let the reader interpret them as he/she pleases.

Giovanni Deponte