The Extreme Right in France: From Pétain to Le Pen - Hardcover

Shields, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 041509755X ISBN 13: 9780415097550

Publisher: Routledge, 2007

Synopsis

A comprehensive new historical study of the extreme right in France, from the Vichy regime to the present day.

The Front National has for some years been France's third political party and the most significant extreme-right force in Europe; its leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, contested the second round of the 2002 presidential election with 5.5 million votes.

This wide-ranging and authoritative book examines the resurgence of right-wing extremism in France from a historical perspective, tracing the political lineage of Le Pen and the FN through key figures and movements on the French extreme right since 1940. Part 1 devotes chapters to the Vichy regime, the aftermath of the Occupation, the Poujadist movement, the Algerian War, the ‘Nouvelle Droite’, and extreme-right ideology and activism in the 1960s and 1970s. Part 2 analyzes the electoral rise of the FN, its evolving programme and exploitation of salient issues, the geography and sociology of its electorate, its exercise of local power, and its impact on national political culture in contemporary France. The FN, it is argued, represents both the latest manifestation of a long tradition of right-wing radicalism and a complex new phenomenon within the changing social and political dynamics of France today.

This is an essential book for all readers with an interest in French and European politics and modern history.

About this title

Review

'...Shields has without doubt produced an excellent all round reference text, which is extremely well researched. In terms of a history of the FN in English, it may now certainly lay claim to being one of the best if not the reference text on the subject.'
Tim Peace, European University Institute

'...a truly original, scholarly and valuable book on the subject which significantly enriches French Studies.'
Roger Griffin, Oxford Brookes University, UK

Synopsis

A comprehensive new historical study of the extreme right in France, from the Vichy regime to the present day. The Front National is France's third largest party and the most significant extreme-right force in Europe; its leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, contested the second round of the 2002 presidential election with 5.5 million votes. This book examines this resurgence of French right-wing extremism in historical perspective, tracing the political lineage of Le Pen and the FN through key figures and movements on the French extreme right since 1940. Part I devotes chapters to the Vichy regime, the aftermath of Occupation, the Poujadist movement, the Algerian War, and extreme-right ideology and activism in the 1960s and 1970s. Part II analyzes the electoral rise of the FN, its evolving programme and exploitation of salient issues, the geography and sociology of its vote, and its impact on political culture in contemporary France. The FN, it is argued, represents both the latest manifestation of a long tradition of right-wing radicalism and a complex new phenomenon within the changing social and political dynamics of France today.

This is an essential text for all readers with an interest in the future of European politics.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 041509755X
• ISBN 13: 9780415097550
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432