For more than a month, France has seen an occupation of public squares. At the time of writing, nothing indicates whether the flagship occupation at Place de la République in Paris is going to be able to last, or in what form. Sparked by a draconian new labor law, it is called Nuit Debout, or “arise at night,” and has been compared to Occupy Wall Street or the indignados in Spain.

A common feature of such movements is the lack of a linear trajectory. There are a few reasons for this: first, because their advances bring them face-to-face with new challenges, new objectives, and new questions. After weeks occupation, the movement is now confronting questions of strategy regarding how to respond to repression, its relations with other struggles, the need to grow, etc.

Secondly, once the initial surprise effect has worn off, the dominant order reorganizes itself. Now power is openly seeking to retake possession of Place de la République. All of the major political parties, from the Socialist Party (PS) to the National Front (FN), are now calling for the occupation to be dispersed by the police.