Radicalization of the rightwing in France: from the failure of the European constitution and “La Manif Pour Tous” to Éric Zemmour

Abstract

The author of the article uses the newest French scientific literature, Mass Media materials and analytical research of social organizations to study the evolution of the process of polarization of political life in France and radicalization of the rightwing, in which moderate ideas give way to the rightist ones. The failure of the European constitution referendum in 2005, the legalization of same-sex marriage by the French Parliament in 2013, François Fillon’s victory in the primaries of the rightists and the centrists in 2016 - are the crucial steps in the process of radicalization of the rightwing in France. The author gives special attention to Éric Zemmour’s ideas and his role in the modern political system of the Fifth Republic. Zemmour intentionally puts the question of preservation of national and religious identity of France and the problem of the spread of Islam in the country to the centre of political discussion, adding the islamophobia issue to the Marine Le Pen’s arabophobia and trying to make a new core of France’s political life out of the confrontation of the moderate and the radical ideas, as it was with the struggle of the rightwing and the leftwing before 2017. Zemmour has no chances to win the 2022 election, and his participation is questionable, however the popularity of his ideas can lead to the formation of a new pole of France’s politics as a result of the 2022 election - Identitarian, conservative and Catholic.