The Politics of Racism in France PDF
Preview The Politics of Racism in France
The Politics of Racism in France This page intentionally left blank The Politics of Racism in France Peter Fysh Senior Lecturer in French, Nottingham Trent University, UK and Jim Wolfreys Lecturer in French Politics, King’s College London, UK © Peter Fysh and Jim Wolfreys 2003 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2003 978-0-333-63893-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their right to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2003 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St Martin’s Press LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan®is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN(cid:160)978-1-349-39506-4(cid:160)(cid:160)(cid:160)(cid:160)(cid:160)(cid:160)(cid:160)(cid:160)ISBN(cid:160)978-0-230-37327-3(cid:160)(eBook) DOI(cid:160)10.1057/9780230373273 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 For Peter Morris who helped us both more than we can say and who was tragically taken from us as we were completing this book. This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements x List of Tables xi List of Abbreviations xii 1 Introduction 1 2 The Republic and Her Immigrants 10 1850–1918, the formation of the working class and the consolidation of the Third Republic 13 Escaping oppression: Jewish workers of the belle époque 15 The 1920s, demographic crisis and industrial expansion 16 The depression, the rise of Nazism and the Popular Front 20 War, resistance and the Cold War 23 North Africans in France: unwilling ‘subjects’ of the Republic 25 Algerians at war 28 Immigrants and the long boom, 1945–80 31 The colonial legacy and racial violence 37 Economic crisis and state racism 39 3 The National Front Breakthrough and Consolidation, 1981–92 42 Breakthrough, 1981–88 42 The ‘gang of four’ on the defensive 44 The Front enters Parliament 50 Towards the presidential election 55 Opportunities, challenges and consolidation, 1988–92 60 Michel Rocard: the politics of pragmatic consensus 61 The Headscarf Affair 64 The Gulf War 69 Stealing the National Front’s clothes 71 Who votes National Front? 74 ‘Contact racism’ 75 A protest vote? 77 Evolution of the National Front vote 80 National Front voters: core and periphery 84 viii The Politics of Racism in France 4 Le Pen and the Extremist Tradition 88 Three crises: MacMahon, Boulanger and Dreyfus 89 The Dreyfus Affair 91 Theorists of reaction: the Action Française 93 The paramilitary veterans’ leagues 96 Vichy 100 The survival of French fascism, 1945–72 103 Theorising the National Front, 1962–72 105 Fascist origins of the National Front, 1972–81 109 The problem of doctrinal renewal 111 Bringing the family together 116 5 Anatomy of a Fascist Party: Ideology, Strategy, Organisation 118 National Front doctrine 119 Racial supremacy 120 The ideal society 123 Economy and society: between free enterprise and social control 127 Pagans against Christians 131 Monarchy or Republic? 132 Propaganda and press 135 The strategy of the dual discourse 140 National Front strategy: political change and the parliamentary road 143 Party organisation 145 The satellite organisations 148 Conclusion 152 6 Youth and Anti-Racism 153 Youth and social exclusion 153 Towards political mobilisation 155 School and work 157 Housing 158 Police and justice 161 Youth and political mobilisation 164 Birth of the associations 164 Dimensions of Beur identity 166 The Beurs and political autonomy 167 France Plus and SOS Racisme 171 Facing up to the Gulf War 177 Trying to target the fascists 179 Contents ix 7 New Contexts for Racism and Anti-Racism, 1992–2002 184 The rise of ‘unofficial politics’ 186 The co-ordination and sansmovements 186 December 1995 and anti-capitalism 187 Pasqua, Debré, Le Pen … one struggle 190 The National Front in a new context: towards the split of 1999 196 Hope and anxiety, 1997–98 198 Bruno Mégret: the emergence of a challenger 200 ‘Neither right nor left’? 201 Divide and misrule? 202 In or against the system? 203 8 The Republican Model in Question 207 Anti-racism and the Republic: taking stock 207 The discovery of ‘race’ 210 An action plan against racial discrimination 212 Tested and found wanting 214 The plural left and the sans papiers 216 9 The Collapse of Official Politics 221 The crisis of the left 222 Europe: blurring the divide between right and left 223 Searching for the left electorate 224 The crisis of the right 228 Jacques Chirac, lame duck 229 Europe and the right 230 Personal squabbles and party rivalries: the collapse of the centre 231 Winners and losers of the NF split 232 Picking up the pieces 234 The Fifth Republic in crisis: the 2002 elections 236 10 Where Do We Go From Here? 240 Confronting the fascist revival 244 Is the NF back from the dead? 246 Bibliography 248 Index 260
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