From Marine Le Pen to Donald Trump, a common claim among right-wing populists is that they represent true democracy. This is based on the idea that an allegedly corrupt elite, usually the established government, does not justly represent “the people”. More often than not, “the people” is defined in narrow ethnic terms, making such populist… Continue reading “When Ethnic Minorities Vote For Right-Wing Populism”
After helping Donald Trump break American politics, Steve Bannon sought to do the same in Europe. It didn’t work out the way he planned. Steve Bannon is a busy man. A man on a mission — a bigoted farce, under the guise of a grand and illustrious quest informed by a noble cause: nothing less… Continue reading “How Steve Bannon Lost The European Elections”
Today, the divide from which Marine Le Pen profits has reached alarming proportions, most recently with the eruption of the revolt of the gilets jaunes. There is a saying in German – Totgesagte leben länger, roughly but not quite accurately translated into English as “Presumed dead but still kicking”. To put it more precisely – kicking quite… Continue reading “The Return of la Marine”
Two years on from the historic electoral ‘rise’ of Emmanuel Macron as French President, the French political landscape is even more volatile. The last two years have been a landmark occasion for a number of populist radical right parties across Europe. A number have even entered into coalition government, most notably in Italy and in Austria..The… Continue reading “2019 and beyond: growing threat of the radical right in French politics”
In the May European elections, the immigration issue will continue to play a role in the expected success of radical right parties. The initial success of radical right parties such as the French Front National (FN) in the mid-1980s coincided with concerns about immigration flows into countries across Europe. Although the post-WWII guest-worker era had… Continue reading “The radical right, immigration and the future of the EU”