DEMARGINALIZATION AND NORMALIZATION OF THE EUROPEAN FAR RIGHT: THE CASE OF THE FRENCH RADICAL RIGHT PARTY «NATIONAL RALLY»
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17072/2218-1067-2025-2-71-80Keywords:
right-wing radicalism, right-wing radical parties, National Rally, Marine Le Pen, Jordan Bardella, France, European Union, securitization, migration, nationalist discourseAbstract
In modern Europe, security issues are among the key factors for the stable functioning of political institutions, both nation-states and the supranational association known as the European Union. The growing popularity of far-right, right-wing political parties that actively shape the political agenda is one of the challenges facing the political systems of an increasing number of European countries. A feature of the current stage of activity of such organizations is the demarginalization and normalization of both their discourse and their participation in the legal political arena. Using the example of one of the largest right-wing radical parties in Europe, the French National Rally, this research reveals some of the mechanisms behind the construction of far-right discourse that have contributed to their success in the political process — particularly in the securitization of migration and issues of national identity. The 2024 program materials, released ahead of the elections to the French Parliament and the European Parliament, provide the empirical basis for analyzing the current discourse of the French National Rally. The study concludes that the transformation of the party’s discourse under Marine Le Pen to normalize its image has led to increased popularity in France and contributed to the broader European trend of demarginalizing right-wing radical forces.References
Бадаева, А. С. (2024) ‘Гибридизация французского «Национального объединения»’, Международная жизнь, cc. 26–35. [Badaeva, A. S. (2024) ‘Hybridization of the French National Rally’ [Gibridizaciya francuzskogo «Nacional'nogo ob"edineniya»], Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn, pp. 26–35. (In Russ.)].
Болдырев, М. О. (2024) ‘Эволюция стратегий ультраправых движений в политической системе EC: на примере деятельности президента национального объединения Франции Ж. Барделлы’, Социально-гуманитарные знания, 7, cc. 128-–132. [Boldyrev, M. O. (2024) ‘The evolution of strategies of far-right movements in the political system of the EU: based on the example of the activities of the president of the French National Rally J. Bardella’ [Evolyuciya strategij ul'trapravyh dvizhenij v politicheskoj sisteme EC: na primere deyatel'nosti prezidenta nacional'nogo ob"edineniya Francii Zh. Bardelly], Social'no-gumanitarnye znaniya, 7, pp. 128–132. (In Russ)]. EDN: TSBSVU
Брубейкер, Р. (2012) Этничность без групп. М.: Изд. дом Высшей школы экономики. [Brubaker, R. (2012) Ethnicity without groups [Etnichnost' bez grupp] (In Russ.)].
Бурмистрова, Е. С. (2022) ‘Традиционные ценности в дискурсе французских правых популистов: пример партии Национального объединения’, Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Политология, 24 (2), cc. 221–233. [Burmistrova, E. S. (2022) ‘Traditional values in the discourse of the French populist radical right: The case of the National Rally’ [Tradicionnye cennosti v diskurse francuzskih pravyh populistov: primer partii Nacional'nogo ob"edineniya], Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Politologiya, 24 (2), pp. 221–233. (In Russ)].
Водак, Р. (2018) Политика страха. Что значит дискурс правых популистов?: пер. с англ. Харьков: Гуманитарный центр. [Wodak, R. (2018) The politics of fear. What right-wing populist discourses mean? [Politika straha. Chto znachit dis-kurs pravyh populistov?] (In Russ.)].
Жидкова, А. В. (2023) ‘Влияние иммиграции на электоральную поддержку французских крайне правых: на примере партии «Национальное объединение»’, Социальные новации и социальные науки, 1 (10), сс. 111–121. [Zhidkova, A. V. (2023) ‘The impact of immigration on the electoral support of the French far-right: on the example of the party National Rally’ [Vliyanie immigracii na elektoral'nuyu podderzhku francuzskih krajne pravyh: na primere partii «Nacional'noe ob"edinenie»], Social'nye novacii i social'nye nauki, 1 (10), pp. 111–121. (In Russ.)].
Красикова, Л. В. (2022) ‘Трансформация евроскептицизма партии «Национальное объединение» (2017–2022)’, Анализ и прогноз. Журнал ИМЭМО РАН, 3, сс. 91–103. [Krasikova, L. (2022) ‘The transformation of the Euroscepticism of the National Rally Party (2017–2022)’ [Transformaciya evroskepticizma partii «Nacional'noe ob"edinenie» (2017–2022)], Analiz i prognoz. Zhurnal IMEMO RAN, 3, pp. 91–103. (In Russ.)].
Логинова, П. Г., Эбзеева, Ю. Н. (2024) ‘Коммуникативные особенности модели политической медиакоммуникации лидера французской партии «Национальное объединение» Дж. Барделла (риторико-стилистическая специфика)’, Научные исследования и разработки. Современная коммуникативистика, 13, сс. 56–62. [Loginova, P. G., Ebzeeva, Yu. N. (2024) ‘Towards the Communicative Specifics and Rhetoric Features of the Media Model of Political Discourse of the Acting Leader of the French Right-Wing Political Party «Rassemblement National» Jordan Bardella’ [Kommunikativnye osobennosti modeli politicheskoj mediakommunikacii lidera francuzskoj partii «Nacional'noe ob"edinenie» Dzh. Bardella (ritoriko-stilisticheskaya specifika)], Nauchnye issledovaniya i razrabotki. Sovremennaya kommunikativistika, 13, pp. 56–62. (In Russ.)].
Морозов, В. Е. (2009) Россия и Другие: идентичность и границы политического сообщества, М.: Новое литературное обозрение. [Morozov, V. Ye. (2009) Russia and the Others: Identity and Boundaries of a Political Community [Rossiya i Drugie: identichnost' i granicy politicheskogo soobshchestva] (In Russ.)].
Морозов, В. Е. (2011) ‘Безопасность как форма политического: о секьюритизации и политизации’, Полис. Политические исследования, 3, сс. 24–35. [Morozov, V. Ye. (2011) ‘Security as a form of political issues: on securitization and politicization’ [Bezopasnost' kak forma politicheskogo: o sek'yuritizacii i politizacii], Polis. Politicheskie issledovaniya, 3, pp. 24–35. (In Russ.)].
Осколков, П. В. (2019) Правый популизм в Европейском союзе. М.: Ин-т Европы РАН. [Oskolkov, P. V. Right-wing populism in the European Union [Pravyj populizm v Evropejskom soyuze] (In Russ.)].
Осколков, П. В., Тэвдой-Бурмули, А. И. (2023) ‘Существует ли популизм? Переосмысляя «политологическую моду»’, Актуальные проблемы Европы, 4 (120), сс. 18–37. [Oskolkov, P. V., Tevdoy-Burmuli, A. I. (2023) ‘Does populism exist? Rethinking a «political science fashion»’ [Sushchestvuet li populizm? Pereosmyslyaya «politologicheskuyu modu»], Aktual'nye problemy Evropy, 4 (120), pp. 18–37. (In Russ.)]. DOI: 10.31249/ape/2023.04.02 EDN: WAHFFM
Окунева, Л. С., Тэвдой-Бурмули, А. И. (ред.) (2020) Правый популизм: глобальный тренд и региональные особенности. М.: МГИМО-Университет. [Okuneva, L., Tevdoy-Burmuly, A., (eds.) (2020) Right-wing populism: global trend and regional cases [Pravyj populizm: global'nyj trend i regional'nye osobennosti]. M.: MGIMO-Universitet. (In Russ.)].
‘Правые силы в Европе’ (2023) Актуальные проблемы Европы, 204 (120). [‘The right-wing forces in Europe’ (2023) [Pravye sily v Evrope], Aktual'nye problemy Evropy, 204 (120). (In Russ.)].
Тимофеев, П. П. (2023) ‘«Национальное объединение» в Национальном собрании Франции: может ли разрушитель быть созидателем?’, Актуальные проблемы Европы, 4 (120), сс. 177–195. [Timofeev, P. P. (2023) ‘«National Union» in the National Assembly of France: are disrupters capable of being creators?’ [«Nacional'noe ob"edinenie» v Nacional'nom sobranii Francii: mozhet li razrushitel' byt' sozidatelem?], Aktual'nye problemy Evropy, 4 (120), pp. 177–195. (In Russ.)].
Buzan, B., Waever, O., and de Wilde, J. (1998) Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. DOI: 10.1515/9781685853808
Ivaldi, G. (2024) ‘The Populist Radical-Right Turn of the Mainstream Right in France’ In: Kaltwasser C. R (eds.) The transformation of the mainstream right and its impact on (social) democracy, pp. 80–93. Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS).
Ivaldi, G. (2024) ‘A Tipping Point for Far-Right Populism in France’ In: Gilles Ivaldi and Emilia Zankina (eds.) 2024 EP Elections under the Shadow of Rising Populism, pp. 164–177. European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS). doi.org/10.55271/rp0070.
Lamour, C. (2024) ‘Normalizing and Mainstreaming the French Radical Right: Divergences in Leadership Communication during a Summer of Inland and Borderland Tensions’, The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 9 (3), pp. 736–759. doi:10.1017/rep.2024.14.
Mudde, C. (2007) Populist radical right parties in Europe. N. Y.: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511492037 EDN: UVJPUT
Mudde, C. (2019) The Far Right Today. Cambridge: Polity press.
Mudde, C. (2024) ‘From the Margins to the Mainstream: A Personal Reflection on Three Decades of Studying and Teaching Far-Right Politics’, Journal of Right-Wing Studies, 2 (1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5070/RW3.25030/ EDN: BZLMUL
Pirro, A. L. (2023) ‘Far right: The significance of an umbrella concept’, Nations and Nationalism, 29 (1), pp. 101–112.
Wodak, R., Culpeper, J., & Semino, E. (2021) ‘Shameless normalisation of impoliteness: Berlusconi’s and Trump’s press conferences’, Discourse & Society, 32 (3), pp. 369–393.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The author grants the Publisher of the journal (Perm State University) the right to use their article in the journal, as well as to include the text of the abstract, the full text of the article and information about authors in the "Russian Science Citation Index" (RSCI).
The author agrees to the processing of personal data.
The right to use the journal as a whole belongs to the Publisher and acts indefinitely on the territory of the Russian Federation and beyond in accordance with cl. 1260 of the Russian Federation Civil Code.
There is no author's fee paid for providing the above rights by the author.
The author of the article included in the journal retains the exclusive right to it, regardless of the Publisher's right to use the journal as a whole:
a. The authors retain their copyrights to the article and transfer the right of the first publication along with the article to the journal, while also licensing it on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to distribute this article with the obligatory indication of authorship of the article and reference to the original publication in this journal.
b. The authors retain the right to enter into separate, additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive dissemination of the version of the text published by this journal (for example, post it in a university archive or publish it in a book), with reference to the original publication in this journal.
c. d. Authors are allowed to post their text on the Internet (for example, in a university archive or on their personal website) before and during the review process by this journal, as this can lead to a fruitful discussion and to higher number of the references to this published work (Please refer to The Effect of Open Access).
Submission of an article by the author implies that they agree for it to be used by the Publisher on the above conditions and to be included in the RSCI system. It also implicates that the author is aware of the terms of its use. The information about the author sent to the Publisher, including by e-mail, is also considered as such consent.
The editorial board posts the full text of the article on the Perm State University site: http://www.psu.ru and in the OJS system at http://press.psu.ru
The publication fee is not collected and fees are not paid. The author's copy is sent to the author to the address provided by them.
