Faced with a rural France that is too often marginalized, the MFRs are committed to promoting the voice of young people, restoring territorial dialogue and building active citizenship.
THEFrance Culture program “Rural France: the dangers of resentment” brings a powerful reality back to the forefront: nearly a third of French people live in rural areas, but their daily lives are largely invisible in dominant narratives. Behind the bucolic landscapes and the "authentic" imagination, these are territories marked by the closure of public services, the scarcity of transport, medical desertification and digital insecurity. A daily life under tension, where residents feel they are the great forgotten ones in national decisions.
This feeling of abandonment fuels a composite resentment:
- Economic, faced with glaring inequalities in access to services or employment,
- Cultural, by a persistent stigmatization of rurality (perceived as “backward” or “chav”),
- Policy, due to a representation perceived as weak, even non-existent.
📉 According to the "Words of the Countryside" survey, only 10% of rural residents feel they are represented by the government, and 21% by the national press.
Resentment isn't just emotional: it becomes political. Withdrawal sometimes turns into a protest vote. Not necessarily out of ideological conviction, but out of a desire to be heard at all costs. In many cases, the extreme vote becomes a cry, a form of demand for recognition. It's not a systematic adherence to radical ideas, but an alarm signal sent by forgotten territories.
The urgency: recreating dialogue, everywhere and for everyone
What this fractured rural landscape reveals, above all, is a huge lack of listening. There is a lack of real spaces for dialogue to allow residents—especially young people—to express their needs, ideas, and visions. And these dialogues cannot be parachuted in from Paris. They must be locally rooted, embodied, vibrant, and sincere.
Working with local authorities, institutions, and European networks, the MFRs work daily to train, but also to transform. They support young people in developing their professional and civic skills, giving them the means to take action in their local area.
A striking example of this commitment is the rural youth advocacy for lasting peace, presented in 2024 in Brussels. Through this text, young people formulated nine ambitious recommendations, focused on major issues such as education for peace, social and environmental justice, dialogue between generations and territories, and access to reliable and inclusive information. This plea is not just a simple document: it constitutes a true act of political speech, forcefully carried by a youth who are still too little listened to.
It is not enough to note the rural malaise. We must hear it, understand it and above all, answer it. It starts with places where everyone can express themselvesThis continues through institutions - such as the MFRs - which train young people capable of making their voices heard, on the benches of communities such as those of the European Parliament.
