Writer Edouard Louis: The political is personal
French writer Edouard Louis told Hardtalk's Stephen Sackur that political decisions have "intimate" effects on the lives of ordinary people and should not be underestimated.
He added that despite incidences of homophobia and anti-Semitism among the gilets jaunes movement, the protesters should not be dismissed because, as a group, they are fighting for "equality and a better life".
Mr Louis became a literary sensation in his native France when he published a raw and shocking memoir of his experience as a young gay man brought up in a poor working class town in northern France.
You can see the Hardtalk interview in full on Monday 15 April on BBC World News and the BBC News Channel and after on BBCiPlayer (UK only).