why are “medium-sized cities” massively on the streets?

8,000 people in Châteauroux (Indre), 11,000 in Rodez (Aveyron), 6,000 in Lannion (Finistère), 7,000 in Alès (Gard)… Among the 223 processions and the 1.12 million demonstrators, after the Ministry of the Interior, who marched on Thursday January 19 against the pension reform, several of them attracted attention and aroused astonishment. What the geographer and essayist Christophe Guilluy describes as “Peripheral France“, France “prefectures and sub-prefectureshas indeed mobilized in numbers against the bill put forward by Emmanuel Macron. In Foix (Ariège), more than 20% of the agglomeration was in the street. A figure that fluctuates between 5 and 10% in many medium-sized towns. And that raises questions on the eve of a second day of protest, this Tuesday.