Resistance and Survival

Despite overwhelming challenges, Paris's poor created survival networks and resistance strategies. Mutual aid societies, informal economies, and cultural practices sustained communities facing systematic neglect and exploitation.

Workers' cooperatives pooled resources for emergencies. The Society of Mutual Aid for Flower Makers, entirely female-run, provided unemployment benefits, medical care, and funeral expenses. Members contributed weekly sous, creating insurance systems preceding state welfare. These organizations offered dignity along with material assistance.

The informal economy sustained those excluded from regular employment. Women took in washing, mending, and piecework. Men scavenged, performed odd jobs, and traded goods. Children contributed through street sales and message running. Families survived through multiple small incomes rather than single breadwinners.

Cultural practices maintained community identity. The bals musettes (dance halls) of Belleville provided cheap entertainment and courtship opportunities. Amateur theater groups performed in café back rooms. Singing societies preserved regional songs. These activities offered beauty and meaning amid grinding poverty.

Political resistance took various forms. Anarchist groups planned revolution from workshop meetings. Socialist organizations recruited through concrete assistance—soup kitchens, libraries, child care. Women's groups combined consciousness-raising with practical support. The police infiltrated constantly but couldn't eliminate radical hopes.