The Great Transformation of Far-Right Extremism in Europe or How Radicalism infiltrated into the Nat

Right–wing populist parties in many European countries tremendously increased the amount of their adherents since the last two decades. As a result of their strict and very methodical convergence, these extreme parties succeed to determine three very clear ideological perceptions: first, that traditional norms based on mutual understanding loom over universalistic principles, second, that multicultural society demolishes the nation and third, that the majority of concepts and decisions taken by supra-national political authorities such as the European Union destroy the entity of national welfare state. The next pages of this work will attempt to cover the process of transformation the populist parties in Europe by taking as a case study the National Front Party (NFP) in France. Through the use of comparative model from previous decades, I will try to examine the act of Radicalisation which occurs today in many other nationalist parties from the continent such as Austria and Hungary.

Pro Native Authority Merits and Counter Universalistic Values

The extreme right parties have a tight connection with identity notion which appeared to become the most gainful political message as regarding the collective self-distinction formation in Europe long before the contemporary political matters. Around the late `60s, new political issues which were mainly caused by various societal values and living conditions occurred and changed the public vision towards conflict and controversial discussions. The transition from authoritarian to libertarian values which emerged as part of secularization process gave rise to an opposition between authority and autonomy.

Initially, there are two features that distinguish the Right party family from the libertarian left.

The first item was concentrated on modern issues and debates and it was expressed by incorporation of new topics into their anti-immigration attitude. From the beginning, this process did not refer to ethnic racism but rather has called ‘differentialist nativism’ or ‘cultural racism’ (Bornschier 2008: 4). The second group of far-right matters was represented by direct reactions (e.g. protests, plenums and conferences) against the societal changes brought about by the libertarian left. Ideologically, these activities included non-acceptance of social multicultural model as well as universalistic values in general. If we assume that these two conviction sequences continue to exist today into the extreme right field, then we should examine how they affect the populist parties at this instant of writing.

The Great Integration of Young Radicals in NFP

The existence of more Radical groups in France puts an extra pressure on NFP`s far-right policy-making. Among all, the most active nowadays appears to be the Identity Bloc (IB). This small but highly radical coalition has the intention to become a faction of NFP since long time but the strong resistance of certain party leaders (e.g. Jean-Marie Le Pen, Louis Aliot and Marie-Christine Arnautu) holds on the further acts of mediation regarding future collaboration with the Identity representatives.

Despite the official refuse for an alliance, IB succeeded to infiltrate into the FNP`s affaires through an integration of its members and ideology into the party structure (i.e. many front runners from IB`s young wing, Generation Identity, were already approved as candidates into the national elections political campaign in 2014). Later the same year, IB continued its propaganda by organizing a conference under the slogan ‘Foundations of re-migration’ and following a program line which was called ‘From the great (population) replacement to the great return (back to Africa and Muzland) in Paris. Different adherents of Radical far-right extremism such as Renaud Camus, Jean-Yves Le Gallou and Guillaume Faye also witnessed the event.

Beyond this strategy, the young IB`s members orientated their interests and skills towards media and communication field. Most of them had already established contact with different social networks (e.g. Fdesourche website) and had the possibility to receive knowledge regarding effective media and visual propaganda. This fact makes the young extremists priceless experts for NFP which seeks for managers to prepare future political campaigns and elections. Latest example for this integration is Damien Rieu, the leader of Generation Identity who was hired by Julian Sanchez, a FNP member and mayor of Beaucaire commune in southern France, to take care of the city communication. The mayor of Cogolin province in Var department, Marc-Etienne Lansade, also recruited a member of Generation Identity, Julien Langella, to be responsible for the communication of the city.

Why there is a Radicalisation of Far-Right Extremism in France?

From theoretical perspective, the protection of cultural identity and the refuse of multicultural community concern a bigger thesis aspect related to the opposition between the individualistic and universalistic social principle. Immigration is directly related to this encounter since the occurrence of people from different cultural backgrounds put in danger national homogeneity. For this reason, the exponents of right-wing parties consider as necessary to emphasize the right to self-determination instead to give rights to outsiders.

The new tendencies which have been implemented into the contemporary far-right policies are the adoption of a discourse based on politization of Islam and propaganda against democratic institutions. This is a serious redirection the course of far-right extremism since, as previously established in some of my works, first, it reflects on the public psychological profile which appears mainly to stand on prejudices, intolerance and second, it gives an expression of distrust towards the democratic state affairs. Hence, the present civil and institutional dynamics in Europe actually allow the new populist right to become more radical.

When turning back to the particular case of France, many researchers who dedicated their work examining the ideological profile of NFP`s electorate (Perrineau, 1997; Mayer, 2002; Bornschier; 2007a in Bornschier 2008) indicate that the voters are fundamentally divided on the economic axis. To be able to mobilize an electorate from different economic background develops a new policy-making which is highly orientated to young participants and new media forms of communication such as websites and video streaming services.

A Step Aside from Modernity

The serious changes of far-right populism which transformed French nationalism into more Radical formation can be comprehended as a form of broad spatial and cultural interaction which is becoming more accelerative over time. Boundaries between nation-states in Europe fell and this action stimulated and intensified the process of globalization and thus economic modernization. Bigger expansion of production and increase of competitiveness activated new social divisions.

Furthermore, many institutions and governments had decisively legitimized unfamiliar until this time standards in relation the financial and public policy-making so to be more relevant towards the structural requirements of global unification and EU-integration. By reason of this transformation new political actors and formations like the Identity Bloc and the Generation Identity received a chance to rise and give voice to their opinion. In this sense, the National Front Party like some other right-wing populist parties (e.g. the Austrian Freedom Party, FPÖ and the Movement for a Better Hungary, JOBBIK) can be examined as a political buffer as regards the welfare apparatus which is no longer responsive to the preferences of voters.

References

Bornschier, S. (2008), The Extreme Right-Wing Populist Challenge and the Transformation of Political Space in Western Europe. Switzerland: University of Zurich.

Kitschelt, P. H., ‘’Left-Libertarian Parties: Explaining Innovation in Competitive Party Systems’’ in World Politics, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Jan., 1988), 194 - 234.

‘’Le Bloc Identitaire, un lobby au Front National’’. Le Monde, Novembre 2014, <http://droites-extremes.blog.lemonde.fr/2014/11/12/le-bloc-identitaire-un-lobby-au-front-national/> (24.11.2014)

‘’Qui sommes-nous?’’ Fdesouche 2014, <http://www.fdesouche.com/fdesouchecom> (24.11.2014)

Royce, M. (2010), The Rise and Propagation of Political Right-Wing Extremism: The Identification and Assessment of Common Sovereign Economic and Socio- Demographic Determinants. Switzerland: Swiss Management Center University.

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