Contenu du sommaire : L'extrême droite en Europe

Far-right in Europe : a geopolitical analysis The early electoral rise of the French Front National (FN), as early as the 1980s while created in 1972, was an exception in Europe. It is not the case anymore and far right parties score as high in numerous European countries, and sometimes higher. Moreover, the electoral system allows them to participate in government coalitions in order to build right wing majorities.
The rejection of Muslim immigration is the main reason for these scores because it is seen as threat for the national identities and values. In a context of economic globalization, the foreigner is made responsible for industries relocations and unemployment. While these forces are shared across Europe, there are specific national features. This is why we chose to present different European situations, including Russia, to better understand the phenomenon.

The stages of the Front National vote and its representations The rising feeling of insecurity among the working-class is one explanation of the Front National vote but needs to be understood on a long-term basis. In 1984, a strong increase of insecurity already preceded the Front National breakthrough. And yet, this question was eluded or reduced to the evocation of a fantasy disconnected with the rise of misdemeanors. This kind of representation has had a long-standing influence on the left and was a major factor in the perpetuation of a political deficit against the FN, at least until 1997. The different stages of the Front National's offer needs to be considered as well. In the 1990s, the FN exercised its nuisance power against the right and thus, secured the loyalty of its electoral base. Then, the schism between Mégret and Le Pen had long-standing consequences : from 1999 to 2009 (except in April 2002), the FN scores decreased and its nuisance power disappeared. Numerous FN voters joined intermittent abstainers, a voter base that Marine Le Pen needs to convince in 2012, as the other candidates from the left and the right alike do.

The far right in Hungary : roots, culture and space In Hungary, the results of the 2009 European election (14,77%) and the 2010 legislative election (16,67%) of the Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom (called Jobbik) attracted international attention on the emergence of a new radical right. After a political crisis that poisoned the Hungarian political relationships since 2006, and in the context of the world economic crisis, 855000 voters (out of a total of approximately 5 millions) favored a political option totally opposed to the EU declared values. We could easily understand this phenomenon as specifically Hungarian, with no roots and no comparable force abroad and to link it to the “old demons”. In this article, we demonstrate that the resurgence of these ideas is the result of complex economic and social processes related to recent historical events, as well as specificities of the Hungarian political ideas history, and unasked questions since the 1990 democratic transition.

The German far right : a modern strategy of communication The German society is still deeply traumatized by the Second World war Holocaust so the openly racist and xenophobic political organizations do not have a say in the mass media. In order to get round this ostracization from the media, the German far right developed a modern communication strategy (music, Internet) to target young people. In addition to this presence in the virtual space, the NDP (National-Democrat Party) and its youth organization (JN) invest a great deal in a series of events, real demonstrations of power in public spaces. However, this evolution meets resistance from the population. Through counter-demonstrations, but also a deep reflection on the actions to put into place on a daily basis, numerous citizens mobilize against these far right public apparitions.

Populist and extreme-right parties in Nordic countries Swedish parliamentary elections in 2010 and Finnish parliamentary elections in 2011 have witnessed the electoral breakthrough of right populist parties. They currently enjoy a representation in all national parliaments in Scandinavia. This article aims at grasping the favoring conditions behind the rise of these political parties as well as their specific characteristics compared to far right movements. Determinants of voting behaviors for these parties reveal that migrants' density per se is less significant than the media coverage of conflicting values between migrants and their host society. A study of public policies reveals that the political influence of right populist parties is greater than expected.

Urban transformation and support for radical right-wing populist parties This paper redefines three traditional explanations for supporting Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties (RRPP) from an urban perspective and aims at understanding spatial variations within the city. We argue that these variations reflect more than the social composition of neighbourhoods, but are also the result of socio-spatial processes which are related to three decades of urban transformation that have affected European cities. By examining the electoral geography of RRPP support in the Dutch city of Den Haag in 2010, we identify three different types of neighbourhoods based on ethnic competition, social isolation and policy protest. We conclude by suggesting an agenda for further research.

« This is not a party » : Le véhicule fantôme de l'anti-islamisme de Geert Wilders The Party for freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders is since the general election of 2010 the thord party in the Netherlands. Foremost it is the indispensable partner of the minority government of the coalition of the conservatives of the VVD and the Christian-democrats of the CDA. This presents the political trajectory of Geert Wilders since his beginnings as parliamentary assistant of the group of Frits Bolkestein in 1990. It situates the electoral success of his party which is not really a party as it has no member, in the context of the debates on immigration, integration and Islam, the political assassinations of Pim Fortuijn in 2002 and Theo van Gogh in 2004, and the rise of anti-Islamist populist movements in the Netherlands. Finally it reviews the main aspects of the electoral geography of the PVV.

Two visions of far right in Ex-Yugoslavia : Slovenia and Serbia cases In the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Serbia, both independent since 1991, the right-wing extremism phenomenon takes on different characteristics. As the case of the Erased people desmonstrates in Slovenian nationalist discourse, Zmago Jelincic's Slovenian National Party plays a secondary role to the protagonist Prime Minister Janez Jansa between 2004 and 2008. By contrast, Vojislav Seselj's Serbian Radical Party came close to winning national elections on several occasions and violent grassroots groups habitually identify themselves as right-wing extremists. The emergence of an independent Kosovo in February 2008 contributed to a divide extremist right-wing factionalism in Serbia. The main factions that emerged are one led by Tomislav Nikolic, once in Seselj's Radical Serbian Party, who now presents himself as the leader of a conservative political movement against Boris Tadic's pro-European party. Given Slovenia's conservative party, which leans towards excessive nationalism, Serbia's extreme far-right, which presents itself as more moderate debates about the nation continue to be essential in the two Balkan states.

The new nationalism in Russia Paradoxically, the traditional nationalism that appeared in Russia towards the end of the nineteenth century was non-ethnic. Its ideologists preferred to refer to the “Russian nation” (including all the ethnic groups of the Empire) instead of an essentially superior “Russian race”. On the other hand, after World War II and under the influence of the German national-socialism, the new nationalism is clearly of ethnic inspiration. In this new nationalism, one must distinguish two major trends : paramilitary radical organizations imitating the Nazi ideology and symbolism (Popular Party for instance), and non-military moderate nationalist organizations whose goal is to legally gain power and influence over the official power. These moderate nationalists precisely appeared to federate large numbers of people and the middle-class to the detriment of radicals, exclusive territory of the traditional nationalism. The fight against illegal immigration and Muslim immigration is their front preoccupation.

The 2011 general election in the « power archipelago » : the beginnings of a Russian political pluralism ? A few months after the « Arab spring », recent demonstrations in Russia carry some strong representations. Even if these mobilizations are spectacular and totally new since Vladimir Putin came into power, it remains a minority issue at nationwide level, which does not allow an extensive understanding of deep political changes happening in Russia today. Beside, reconsideration of United Russia's electoral supremacy by provincial middle class during Federal Duma elections has been a wider and more significant. In a country where the level of life is continuously increasing, analyzing such territories where these voters live could bring some useful information about Russia's political system evolution.

The strong growth of Plataforma per Catalunya : The beginnings of a new national populism in Spain ? Spain was one of the few European countries where the rise of the extreme right movements was not a significant issue. Not anymore, not until now. Plataforma per Catalunya (PXP) is a new extreme right political party in the Spanish political scene. Racist, Xenophobic, mainly morophobic, this political party rises with considerable force in a specific context characterized by the massive arrival of immigrants workers (1,4 millions in 2001, almost 6 millions in 2011 ; representing around 12% of the total population- INE) and by an economic crisis. The unemployment rate is the highest one of Europe (20,4% — eurosat/2011). The irruption of the far right is nevertheless paradoxical since this type of phenomenon has been quite marginal since the implementation of a democratic regime in Spain. Furthermore, it seems even more baffling because the emergence of this trend occurs in Catalonia, a region traditionally considered as a place of immigration and integration. The success of the PXC is mainly the outcome of the parties' territorial conquest strategy based on local anchoring and the exploitation of the Spanish social and economic contexts. This success is also the product of a clever ideological alchemy orchestrated by the leader of the party, Josep Anglada i Rius, whom achieves to adapt the discourse of new formations in Europe called identities to the Spanish and Catalonian geopolitical idiosyncrasy.

The far right in the United Kingdom : A real ideological settling i political and public space during the last decade The last decade has marked a significant change in the british political attitudes : current extreme parties of right have made a real electoral progress and occupied a significant place in British political space. While historically the British civic culture was a strong rampart against extremist ideology, the events of the 2000s (attacks of September 11 2001, bombs of London in 2005, financial crisis) and the emergence of political formations quite well structured such as the British National Party (BNP) and the United kingdom Party (UKIP) have participated in the ideological and electoral impregnation of anti-migration, anti-European and islamophobic thoughts accross the UK. With the rise of the extreme right in Europe and the economic crisis affecting the continent, the British society wich has just experienced its strongest riots in the last thirty years is now facing a pivotal moment in his history.

Letter from Athens The small party LAOS, founded in 2000, appears within the national unity coalition government that must ensure political interim of the country until the early general elections expected in April 2012. After the Socialists failure to manage the economic and financial crisis, its accession allowed to solve the political crisis which was taking shape. Furthermore, the emergence of LAOS also highlights the deep disillusion of a Greek society massively repudiating the two main parties (PASOK and New Democracy) and of which a small portion seems to gradually adhere to the nationalist and xenophobic speeches held by a rising far-right.