In other words, the task now at hand is not just to show how much of a monster Le Pen is. Rather, the task requires calm evaluation of the points on which her politics reach an audience beyond her political party. This is something being witnessed all over Europe: far-right voices push the agenda to the far-right for the whole of the political spectrum. And this happens even more so when other parties not only incorporate these views out of political opportunism, but also collaborate with extremists.
This clearly happened when the extreme right political party LAOS participated in Lucas Papademos’ administration, despite its openly anti-Semitic views. It also happened when Nicolas Sarkozy adopted far-right views while supposedly condemning the far-right. This phenomenon resulted in tougher stances on immigrant rights in countries like Denmark and Austria, and a general shift to the right in countries where extreme right parties held office, such as in Poland, Slovakia, and Romania. [...]
The process of de-demonisation (dédiabolisation) of Marine Le Pen has started to bear fruit. Journalists working for Le Monde say that they believe it is better to treat the National Front just like any other party, “even though it’s not a party like any other.” Why? Because voters do not like it when they are intimidated, taken by the hand and told that they should avoid bad company. [...]
In the case of Le Pen, the fact that we are dealing with a political rhetoric that now focuses on “our European values” rather than blood or race, means that we are treading on the common ground of the central argument of modern day Islamophobia, which is reproduced across the political spectrum. The idea that France has “too many immigrants” also runs across the political spectrum.
No comments:
Post a Comment