In the lead-up to the vote on same-sex marriage in France, protesters held their ‘gallant last stand’ against equality. While the law was passed, these protests have made clear the hypocritical argument of a secular France that is ‘blind to all religions’.
Since the Revolution of 1789, France has claimed with great pride to be the country of secularism. It is true that the revolutionaries, through the Declaration of the Rights of Man and even the Terror, placed a strong emphasis on freedom of religion to liberate the country from the reactionary and oppressive influence of the Church. In 1905, the third Republic anchored secularism deeper into French political life with a law declaring that ‘the Republic ensures freedom of conscience. It guarantees freedom of worship limited only by […] rules in the interest of public order’. Continue reading French reactionary hypocrisy – the hijab, gay marriage and secularism→
Many commentators saw in the ‘poor’ result achieved by Jean-Marie Le Pen in the 2007 presidential elections the demise of the Front National. However, when asked by a journalist whether it was the end of her father’s political career, Marine Le Pen replied smiling: ‘I don’t think so. In any case, this is the victory of his ideas!’[i] In these question and answer lie the whole story of the Front National and its impact on mainstream politics in the past two decades. First, Le Pen’s defeat was exaggerated, the same way his victory had in 2002. In what was seen as the demise of the Front National, Le Pen managed to obtain almost 4 million votes despite the candidature of far right Philippe de Villiers and still ranked fourth in the tally. Furthermore, that Le Pen managed to retain these votes despite the adverse context was a victory in itself. The five years between the 2002 and 2007 presidential elections had indeed led to drastic changes in the way politics was done in France.
I recently wrote about how the extreme right has become mainstream in France, and how the French have cast off their disgust of the politics offered by a party founded by neo-fascists. Since, events have shown that this trend is far from restricted to France.
It has indeed become fashionable for successful far-right politicians to tour the western world to share their radical solutions to the problems in our society. In the midst of an on-going economic crisis, it has become ever clearer to the right that the solution is to target Islam; some are willing to invite these politicians all the way to Australia to spread the word.
Unlike many of its western counterparts, Australia has been spared powerful surges of the extreme right throughout its history. While the nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw European democracies threatened time and time again by movements relying on ethno-exclusivism and thriving on capitalist crises, Australia suffered only relatively weak extreme right bursts whose impact remained marginal.
Even the rise of the One Nation Party in 1996, as sudden as it was impressive, showed the limits in the Australian context for organisations which have proved long-lasting in Europe.Pauline Hanson’s party proved little more than a flash in the pan, a weak and amateurish attempt to ride a growing wave of discontent, and ultimately failed to take root in the country’s political system.
— Professor Jim Shields delivering his presentation on the Le Pens and the Front National.
A workshop titled ‘The Future of the Front National’ was hosted on 1 February 2013 where discussions were held surrounding the impact of the Front National (FN) on French politics and its future under the leadership of Marine Le Pen.
Each paper presented focussed on different aspects of the issue and offered a convincing account of the state of the French extreme right.
Dr Aurelien Mondon, from the University of Bath, opened the workshop by discussing the process of normalisation undertaken by the party in the past three decades. Instead of describing Le Pen’s result as a shock or a surprise, by focusing on the Presidential elections since 2002, Mondon explained that the ebb and flow of the FN’s results were in fact the logical outcome of the process of mainstreaming of the party.
By highlighting the continuity in this process of the mainstreaming of extreme right politics and ideas, the paper illustrated that Marine Le Pen’s rise was in fact greatly facilitated by a decade of right-wing populism, which was given impetus by Nicolas Sarkozy’s role as President. Continue reading The Future of the Front National: L’effet Marine Le Pen→
— Professor Jim Shields delivering his presentation on the Le Pens and the Front National.