Support for the anti-government rallies has fallen recently, as French President Emmanuel Macron has engaged the country, including prison facilities, in a national conversation known as the "Great Debate". The strategy is to gather ideas to form a more inclusive government and it is gaining support from one of the toughest crowds.
The debate allows the detained population to be recognised as French citizens.
But radicalisation is flourishing in French prisons and the debate about how to tackle that has barely begun.
Al Jazeera's David Chater reports from the city of Rance.
