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GUEST: Patrick Silberstein, activist, and founder of the radical publishing house Syllepse

Protests in France have been on-going for more than a month. They were aimed at an employment law that, among other things, would have made it easier to hire, but also easier to fire young people. Responding to general strikes, and millions of people on the streets, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and his government backed down from particular provisions of the law earlier this week. Instead the government introduced another measure in Parliament on Tuesday that would expand training and incentive programs for unemployed young people. But the protests were about more than just the law. A 22 year old Parisian told the Washington Post, “Everybody is fed up with power in general.” I spoke last week with Patrick Silberstein in Paris about the demonstrations. I reached him yesterday for a second update.