Perhaps the most important lesson of the gilets jaunes and their challenge to the existing social contract in France is in their being and becoming. Who could have predicted in November 2018 that the movement would still be active, if somewhat diminished, more than a year later and that it would take a global pandemic to stop their weekly gatherings? Who could have predicted that some of these demonstrators would be present each and every Saturday during that time, in blazing heat and freezing cold, in peaceful protest and in violent interactions, in large numbers as well as small? The very being of the movement is in itself an achievement, regardless of its failure or success. Anyone who has participated in a social movement will know that it shapes your expectations, your interactions with others, and the social context around it. I participated in the Great University Strike of 2018, the largest strike ever seen in higher education in the United Kingdom, which culminated in four weeks of protests on campuses throughout the country. Of a much smaller scale than the movement of the gilets jaunes, it nonetheless changed relations on campuses in a meaningful way. It is fair to say that there is a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ the strike, and as such it constitutes an event. The event of the gilets jaunes is on a different scale of importance altogether. There is a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ the gilets jaunes crisis, and although the after is yet to be seen, time will tell how social relations changed and whether it was for the better or for the worse. Although the becoming of the movement is still uncertain, as we will see in the Conclusion, it is clearly an opportunity for change and for rethinking the terms of the social contract that shape how we interact with each other, and how institutions shape the type of outcomes we can hope for from the political process. As such, one of the greatest achievements of the movement to date has already happened: it has called for a renewal of the terms of the political association to include more participative democracy; it has called for a renewal of the social contract.