Many of those who gathered to oppose the dam call themselves “Zadistes,” or partisans of the ZAD, the French acronym for zones à defendre, or areas to defend. They say they have come to build an independent society. Increasingly, they are seen as environmental extremists, or “green jihadists,” as Xavier Beulin, the president of the main agriculture union, put it.

“For once, we are fighting a project that represents symbolically what we reject,” said Jordan Samson, a geography student in the southern city of Toulouse. “Our movement is spreading to an entire generation.”

The protests here are the latest aimed at a widening number of projects that the demonstrators criticize as monuments to the overweening ambitions of local politicians and their business connections.

Last month, demonstrations in support of the Zadistes were held across France, including in Nantes, where more than a hundred protesters went on a rampage. In the nearby town of Gaillac, several shops and a memorial to war dead were vandalized.

via In France, Dam Is the Catalyst for a Flood of Young People’s Anger – NYTimes.com.