She was the star of the media on Thursday, from the morning of France Inter to the “Daily” set. Camille Étienne, a young graduate of Sciences-po, is releasing a book this Friday entitled “For an ecological uprising. Overcome our collective impotence” (Threshold). Choice forums for this radical environmental activist, while the period lends itself to climate anxiety.
On television, we call this kind of character a good customer. It must be said that the Savoyard has the sense of the formula and knows how to speak to a young audience, very concerned by the climate crisis. In this sequence from the program presented by Yann Barthès, already seen more than 256,000 times, she makes the resignation of the Borne government one of the three “ecological” emergencies of the moment. Hilarity guaranteed on set.
From the mountains to Sciences-po
But what is his background? The 24-year-old young woman recounts in her book her sporty childhood as a skier in Peisey-Nancroix, a winter resort in Savoie, until her arrival rue Saint-Guillaume in Paris on the benches of Sciences-po, where she forged a political and militant culture. Graduated, she still repays a student loan and lives on conferences, her books and artistic fees – she reads texts by George Sand at the theater, reveals the Obs.
For the past few months, she has been caught up in the media circus. His book is also an opportunity to recount his disappointments in the face of a system that can easily drag you into uncontrolled subjects. “I got a little tricked, because I was told if you don’t come we won’t talk about ecology, it’s my sensitive chord, ”she testifies in Le Monde. Having become the embodiment of a certain idea of ecology, it quickly became the object of cruel comments from its own camp. A bad experience.
“Today, I work differently. I impose the subjects I want to talk about, the seabed, the Eacop project in Uganda, the violence committed against climate activists, etc. At first I was deprogrammed and then, little by little, it starts to work, ”she assures us in her interview with our colleagues.
Before that, Camille Étienne had made a name for herself thanks to a video mixing activism and artistic performance that went viral and entitled “Let’s wake up! “. “We are the first generation to experience the consequences of global warming, and the last to be able to do something about it”, she chanted in her mountains, in an actress performance in a subjective camera version. “It’s time to unplug screens and turn brains back on,” she declaimed. A new notoriety that she used to spread the word. “Everyone must dare to ask themselves the question of the meaning that we give to their life and try to put this energy at the service of a more beautiful world”, she declared to Parisian in 2020.
Apostle of Civil Disobedience
In her more recent media discourse, the young woman, described as “a climate influencer”, makes herself the apostle of a radicalism that has become “necessary”. “We are living a shipwreck, we need another way of doing society”, she explains again to Le Monde. “We need the people who will bust out the captain’s door and take over the helm just as much as all those who have already left on the lifeboats”.
This proclaimed activist therefore logically supports actions of civil disobedience. On May 26, she will thus be one of the environmental activists determined to block the general meeting of TotalEnergies in Paris. Acts that correspond to a radical discourse that targets government inaction as much as the leaders of this world. “While 63 French billionaires emit as much greenhouse gas as 50% of the French population, people are being asked to take eco-gestures. For me, it’s a fight against the tide of the climate and social emergency, ”she further believes. No doubt, Camille Étienne has the sense of the formula. And a future in politics?
