This research paper pulls together many themes of my other research paper. It explores the political part of the French National Front and French colonization.
April 30, 2017
The French National Front: Colonizing France From Within
France is known for its previous extensive colonial empire, with its French influences and roots lingering in past colonies which are focused in Southeast Asia, Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. Their colonial projects took on a particular form of domination, focused on characteristics of nationalism, secularism, capitalism and liberalism. However, French colonialization is present in the metropoles, in the past and present, not simply in their former colonies. This can be clearly displayed through the powerful political party, Le Front National (FN) and Marie Le Pen’s current immense success in the presidential election. Their treatment of Jews, black people, middle Easterners and other “foreigners” aims to erase or alter French history and traditions to create structure based around the domination of France and French culture.
To elaborate on the specific characteristics of colonialism, Césaire’s piece “Discourse on Colonialism” gives a critical perspective on colonialism. As a French person, he explains his issues with French colonialism, and in his writing, wishes to demystify the colonialist project. To begin his essay, he decides to qualify what colonialism “is not” and lists contradictions to many known justifications for the colonial project. He states: “To agree what it is not: neither evangelization, nor philanthropic enterprise, not a desire to push back frontiers of ignorance, disease, and tyranny, nor a project undertaken for the great glory of God, not an attempt to extend the rule of law” (Césaire 1955: 2). In naming all of these defenses that have been made in the name of colonialism, Césaire hopes to explicate why these given reasons are untrue and unjust.
Césaire’s description of “civilization” versus savagery, was used to describe the colonies, but is evident within France. He continues, focused on critiquing the positive connotations associated with colonialism: “Laid down the dishonest equations Christianity=civilization, paganism=savagery, from which could ensue abominable colonialist and racist consequences” (Césaire 1955: 2). Le Front National proudly grounds its moral code in Christianity, viewing other religions, such as Islam and Judaism to be a threat to the nation. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the political party, “Our values are those of the ten commandments” (Marcus 1995: 3). This message from Jean-Marie points to his belief that the ten commandments are a proper standard for a powerful country.
Jean-Marie’s daughter, who is currently the leader of the party, Marine Le Pen is also focused on the “enlightenment” or “modernity” present within her political party. In a recent interview, she spoke about civilization explaining how her ideology can lead France into an enlightened future. In this interview, she states that for the future of France, there are “serious questions about civilization. Do we want a multicultural society, following the model of the English-speaking world, where fundamentalist Islam is progressing and we see major religious claims? Or, do we want an independent nation with people able to control their own destiny?” (Banford, Nowak 2017: 1). Here, she invokes the enlightenment, referencing the autonomy to control one’s self and implying that this would not be possible in a “multicultural” country. Her statement also reiterates the belief that non-Western practices would be “savage”, seen in her example of fundamentalist Islam.
Johnathon Marcus lays out the history of the Front National, in his book “The National Front and French Politics”, explaining its relation to the French public’s opinions on populism and colonialism. He describes that the party lost pull after WWII, due to the people’s fear of fascism. However, in the following years, the party was able to gain more following of those in favor of French nationalism and capitalism. Marcus explains that the legacy of the Holocaust was not very strong in France, as the role of France became undermined. Just recently, the Marine Le Pen denied that the French people aided in rounding up Jews on the day “Vel D’Hiv” (Klein 2017). In addition to this denial, Marcus explains that “the resistance myth became a part of the Republican Pantheon”, meaning that French people began to believe that there was French resistance against Nazis and the eventual Holocaust. Marcus continues with this history, explaining that after the war, “by the early 50s” of those who were committed for war crimes in World War II, “many of those imprisoned were receiving amnesties” (Marcus 1995: 13). In great part, the impact of World War II and the Holocaust has been lessened within France and it is this history which has assisted lack of aversion towards a populist French leader.
There are many present similarities between the Le Front National’s French contemporary racism and past colonialism, which can be explained in the party’s past of strong support of France’s colonial power. Originally, when the party was being formed, those who were strong supporters of Algérie Française, keeping Algeria French, were drawn to the party’s backing of French colonial nationalism. In the early formation of the party, the main contributors to the party were “Supporters of the Vichy regime, of Algérie Française, and monarchists, it was the neo-fascists of the Ordre Nouveau who initially held the reins of power” (Marcus 1955:18). Marcus writes of the assistance the colonial endeavor gave to the party’s public support: “This colonial nationalism thus enabled the far Right to emerge from isolation. But once the colonial issue was removed from mainstream political debate, the far Right lost its best mobilizing issue.” (Marcus 1995: 16). Marcus’ example illustrates the importance of the colonies to the party, explaining that this was a fundamental piece of the party’s platform. This clarifies why so many of the party’s current practices reflect the earlier, foreign colonies.
The lens of Simmel’s piece “The Stranger” can aid in understanding the reasons that the immigrant or the Jew is unwelcome in France, exhibited through repeated discrimination and expulsion. Simmel explains how those who do not fit into the ethnically French schema are excluded, as they are physically or culturally different. Although many people have immigrated from previously French-owned colonies feel a connection to the metropole, they are often still viewed as outsiders. Simmel describes this identity, which he labels “The Stranger”, as a “wanderer who comes today and stays tomorrow” (Simmel 1971: 143). Simmel explains how this directly confronts the French, white majority as “his position within it is fundamentally affected by the fact that he does not belong in it initially and that he brings qualities into it that are not, and cannot be, indigenous to it” (Simmel 1909: 139). These “non-indigenous” traits can be displayed simply through a non-white race, or non-Christian religion, marking the individual as “The Stranger.” They are noticed by their otherness, as the white French person can easily distinguish racially who they feel is not a part of the “true” French heritage. Religious minorities, such as Jewish and Muslim French inhabitants are easily seen as “different” and “foreign” due to their religious wear. In this way, anyone within France who does not fit into the hegemonically understood conception of a French person is labelled as “inner-enemies.” Simmel explains that their differentness within the group causes their “membership within the group” to involve “both being outside it and confronting it” (Simmel 1971: 139). Marcus speaks to this inner-enemy label that occurs. “In pointing to the perceived threat from immigrant communities (and especially North African Muslim immigrants) already living in France, Jean-Marie Le Pen has raise the spectre of the enemy within” (Marcus 1995: 76). Jean-Marie, and the Front National as a whole is focused on the distancing from those who already appear as strange or foreign. In the nationalist eyes of the FN, those who do not fit into their concept of “traditional” France are therefore seen as resisters to the white, French population.
Efforts to rid the country of these opposing forces can be seen in Le Front National’s strict policies towards immigration and secularism. Johnathon Marcus, discusses the history of the political party, and includes interviews he conducted with the former leader of the party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of Marine Le Pen. When speaking of immigration, Jean-Marie states: “One doesn’t just let anyone in. For family life to remain stable, it needs a nucleus, a father, a mother, children and grandparents.” He continues, alluding to dangerous immigrants, “Then there are bandits, against whom one bolts the doors and shutters, because they are a threat” (Marcus 1995: 8). He explains the party’s strict believe that, “Any immigrant who put a foot wrong was to be expelled immediately” (Marcus 1995: 19). This statement mirrors the explanation given by Simmel for “inner-enemies.” Although these immigrants live in France, they are viewed as a possible threat to the security of the nation.
This platform of dislike of immigrants, is evident in the opinions of Marine Le Pen, the leading candidate in the current French presidential election. Marine is using her platform to discuss disallowing Muslim people, appealing to the fear that recent terrorist attacks have caused. A BBC News article written in 2017 discusses Marine Le Pen’s policies towards immigration, explaining that “Long before the Paris attacks on 13 November 2015, Marine Le Pen made a link between immigration and militant Islamism. In the immediate aftermath, she proposed to “expel foreigners who preach hatred on our soil” and to strip dual-nationality Muslims with extremist views of their French citizenship, a view traditionally associated with the far right.” These statement echoes those of Simmel’s explanation of the Stranger. Le Pen sees all Muslims within France to occupy the same role as the foreign, other, threat. This article continues: “The 2017 National Front manifesto renews its commitment to a massive reduction in legal immigration.” Focusing on her beliefs, the article states: “Ms. Le Pen argues French citizenship should be ‘either inherited or merited’. As for illegal immigrants, they ‘have no reason to stay in France, these people broke the law the minute they set foot on French soil’” (Banford, Nowak 2017: 1). Marine explicitly states the way that her faction sees Muslim- French people as the internal foe, who must be removed.
In the previous statements, Marine in no way addresses the complexity of France’s post-colonial existence and how it relates to immigration. She simply wishes to clear France of “outsiders” failing to mention that most of the locations she references are former colonies. Marcus speaks of Marine’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen: “For twenty years he has denied all charges of racism, claiming that it is not immigrants, but the politicians who brought them into the country who are his real targets” (Marcus 1995: 7). This denial of racism is justified by “political” factors. However, Marcus explains that “Most people regard the second-generation of North African Immigrants born in France as immigrants, though for all legal purposes most of them are actually French” (Marcus 1995: 75). This excerpt shows that even those who are legally French, are perpetually viewed as outsiders due to their outward displays of difference. Marine and her father insist that they are not racist, but wish to deport people based on their ethnic, religious or cultural identity, without considering the legal right to an individual’s belonging.
There is a rigid emphasis within the Front National to “keep France, French.” This is based on an imaginary France and denies the influence of time on any location and society. The “essential” France is a concept that is repeatedly mentioned as a platform for Le Front National, “This image of La France Profonde, the underlying or essential France, has also been much used by Le Pen” (Marcus 1995: 9) which he describes as “defending” the French way of living (Marcus 1995: 19). This fear has manifested in rejection of cultures that qualify as non-French. As an example of this “the conservative magazine Figaro-Magazine published” “a bust of Marianne (the symbol of the Republic) shrouded in a Muslim veil with the caption ‘Will we still be French in thirty years?” (Marcus 1995: 73). This inner-colonialist approach rejects anything that is outside of its constructed idea of “Frenchness”. This far-right conception of Frenchness ties directly in with whiteness and Christianity. Marcus explains that, “Immigration, in this populist view, was presented as a rising tide of mainly North African and Muslim faces” (Marcus 1995: 73). As mentioned earlier, most of the colonial endeavors took place in North Africa, as well as in Muslim countries in the Middle East. However, when describing the “true”, “bare” or “essential” France, these colonies, and the people within them are left out of the constructed “French” makeup.
Last summer, I spent a month living and working on a farm in Southern France, in what I imagine to be what is described as La France Profonde. It was a family-owned farm and auberge, where we would only eat the food that we had picked on the land. Every week, neighbors would come to pick up a box of organic fruits and vegetables and socialize with the farmers. There, a provincial life did seem to remain, a miniature town filled with small farms, producing crops for close-knit communities. Yet, whatever distance this location was from the larger world, there remained the influence of time upon this isolated farm. Visitors were coming in from around the world to stay at the idyllic farm. Although my boss stressed the importance of speaking French, we would all converse in English as a group, as it was always the common language. Additionally, in my time there, I worked with people from China, Peru, Turkey, Algeria, Germany, Iran and many other countries. This experience, I learned throughout my time living in France, was very indicative of the international nature of Europe. One of my closest friends was Persian, and had grown up in Paris. The baker at the farm, was another of my friends. His mother was Algerian and his father was French. Both of these people came from former French colonies, and their identity created from this assimilated experience of occupying both French and French colonial identities. At this farm in Southern France, which evokes all of the expectations of the “essential” France, the global influence was very apparent in my daily life.
Although the actors within the inner-colonialism project in France are different than within the prior colonialism, the disciplinary roles are functioning in the same way that did in colonies, simply with other titles. This is exhibited in the French film La Haine, which traces the frustrations of three young men who represent the main minorities in France: Jewish, Black and Arab. These young men display their anger towards a system that is focused on expelling them from the majority of French society. They encounter the new form of inner-France colonial violence: the police. After a young Arab man is brutally attacked by the police, they wish to get revenge on the police, not realizing that killing one police would not truly upset the whole system of discipline and violence (Kassovitz 1995). In a bathroom, the men encounter a man who was forced into a Siberian work camp who describes his friend who dies a meaningless death, because he wanted to go to the bathroom in private, but in turn misses the work train and freezes to death. This story acts as a metaphor for the structure that the three boys cannot resist as individuals, because as the metaphorical train continued, the organization of labor and discipline does be affected by the one person who chooses to reject or leave the system. In the end, one of the main characters, Vinz, is killed by a policeman, but the violence from the police continues, illustrating that the police exhibit qualities of former colonists, who could kill resistors to the colonial machine. (Kassovitz 1995)
The men in the film allude to their feeling that concept of violence is deeply ingrained in French culture and order, shifting the French national motto “Liberté, Fraternité, Egalité” to be “Liberté, Fraternité, Brutalité.” This substitution of “Equality” with “Brutality” illustrates the concept that citizens or habitants of France are not equal, and that for minorities, brutality is more prevalent within French society. This points to France’s colonial past, one of violence towards others, as well as the French racial hierarchy, which perpetually places Black people, Jews and Arabs at the bottom. Césaire cites the French philosopher, Renan, spoke of the colonial project: “We aspire not to equality but to domination. The country of a foreign race must become once again a country of serfs, of agricultural laborers, or industrial workers” (Césaire 1955: 3). Here, as shown in the movie, the concept of “Equality” is removed and replaced with domination from the French political power. Césaire discusses the concept of “brutality” as well, wishing to show the “uncivil” nature of the colonial power: “how colonization works to decivilize the colonizer, to brutalize him in the true sense of the word, to degrade him, to awaken him to his buried instincts, to covetousness, violence, race hatred, and moral relativism” (Césaire 1955: 2). Césaire, in his words places the savagery upon the colonizer, also displaying the violence that is inherent of this power.
La Haine describes the forms of racial cleansing ideals that come from French political, social and police powers. When the boy’s friend, Abdel Icha, is attacked, they hear the phrase: “An Arab in a police station doesn’t last an hour.” This statement is similar to the words that have come out of the Front National, with the wish of disallowing Arab people from the country. Throughout the movie, messages of the “otherness” towards these three ethnic and religious minorities are displayed through the encounters that the three men face. The Black man is described by a French policeman as being solely African, shown through the statement: “dance like your people do back home, they are great with their feet.” This shows that he, as a Black man, is persistently seen within France as an African man, despite his roots in France. The word “home” shows that to the white French man, France cannot be the home of this black man. This vocal, symbolic violence, continues the exclusionary process of minorities within France. (Kassovitz 1995)
This film speaks to the racism that is present within French politics and the French public. A character states, “They vote ultra-conservative, and say they aren’t racist.” This hidden racism that is imbedded in the Front National, is felt by all minorities who fear its power. Césaire’s also speaks to this point explaining that whereas the FN political party claims that its values are on the family, Césaire calls this strategy “pseudo-humanism” and feels that it is truly “sordidly racist” (Césaire 1955: 3). The film as well as Césaire’s words described the hidden racism that is imbedded in French culture.
The anti-immigration rhetoric preached by the Front National is rooted mostly in historic trends of racism and white-French supremacy, and used than as a political tactic. Marcus explains that the FN has tackled immigration as an issue to attempt to solve all of the country’s issues that they have failed to mend: “Immigration has become a sort of short hand for a complex pattern of concerns” including “uncertainties about France’s place in the world and the meaning of what it is to be French” (Marcus 1995: 76). Once again, this goal of understanding “Frenchness” is called into question, with immigrants, and those who do not meet the Front National’s standards of those who should belong. As those who look or act different seem simpler to target, immigration has become “linked to unemployment, to urban crime and delinquency, indeed to all of French’s urban ills” (Marcus 1995: 73). Focusing on immigrant populations, or families of immigrants allows for the party to easily put their energy into one visible cause, as opposed to understanding the systematic causes of these “urban ills.”
This overarching theme of immigration leading to other issues is shown directly in the film La Haine. The three men live in the projects in Paris, and are accustomed to constant police surveillance. The film shows the three young men attending a party that is mainly attended by French people of color. They are on top of a roof and being rowdy, and quickly, the police arrive, forcing them to shut down the gathering. This constant presence of the police demonstrates the inclination of the police to believe that immigrant populations are more expected to engage in illegal activities.
This is present not only in the far-Right, but a driving issue in French politics in general. On the left, “The Socialists have indeed been tough on immigration, but they have always sought to present this policy as going hand-in-hand with a human and enlightened attempt to integrate those immigrants already in France” (Marcus 1995: 74). The Socialists tackle their problems with immigration in an alternate way. The socialists are more focused on attempting to bring migrants into French society. Marine Le Pen, in an earlier quote, explained that she does not wish for a “multi-cultural” society” and that those who fit her definition of French, meaning only those who are ethnically French should be a part of the makeup of her ideal “France.”
Marine Le Pen, in recent years, has rebranded the FN to distance herself from her blatantly racist and anti-Semitic father. However, her current policies of cutting off immigration are comparably more extreme than those of her father’s. Her father was in favor of these stricter immigration guidelines: “Only specific categories of people have been allowed entry: workers with essential skills, the families of those already present in France, and refugees obtaining political asylum.” (Marcus 1995: 75). Marine chose to kick her father out of the party and make the party’s message more approachable for the public. Despite this, her views are also rooted in xenophobia and white supremacy.
In my time living in France, I observed the impact that the French majority has upon immigrant populations and people of color. I was at a club in Strasbourg, France with a friend and we ended up speaking to this man who began to speak to us in French, asking me if I was Eastern European. I replied that I was, a little confused by his question. When he discovered we were American, he began to speak in perfect English, with a Jersey accent. He explained that he was Egyptian, and had also lived in New Jersey and Lebanon. Without prompting, he started to discuss his difficulties as a Muslim man living in France. He said that if he told a French girl at a bar that he was Muslim, they would walk away from him, something that had happened to him many times in the past. While I was studying in Strasbourg, people were arrested who were planning an attack on the Strasbourg Christmas Market. As there had been many attacks in the name of ISIS in France in the past year, islamophobia and xenophobia was on the rise. For this man to be a fluent French, English and Arabic speaker, he made other people uncomfortable.
As a Jewish person living in France, I also experienced the effects of France’s exclusionary ideologies. Last Fall of 2016, I decided that I wanted to attend temple for the High Holidays, and thinking that this would be an easy task, I walked up to the large Strasbourg Synagogue that was built by the Germans after the war as a reparation. In the entrance of the temple, there was a guard looking through a window at me, so I asked him about services, thinking that we could easily connect and he could see that I was an eager Jewish girl hoping to celebrate the holidays. However, he was very cold with me, asking about my family, and my activities in France. He then explained that he would need someone else to let me into the Temple, and said that they would be there in the next hour or so. I felt determined to be let in, as I had already made it there. Following this, I decided to sit in the park next to the temple to wait to go through the next form of security. I wrote a note in my phone about the intense emotions that I was feeling. It did not feel right or good to not be allowed into a temple, but I knew that they were disallowing me entry only to protect themselves. In my small temple in Washington, we had never needed security around the building, but in France, is was everywhere. Finally, before services began, I was able to speak with a woman about attending services. She looked at my I.D. and asked me some questions about my Judaism and I explained my involvement with my Temple, and how I had visited Israel. Finally, I was allowed into the Temple, and the security guard kept my identification card. I was relieved to get in, but shaken up by the experience.
These two experiences, of the Muslim man, and my encounter with the security of temple, point to more systematic discrimination within France of religious minorities. The Front National has the goal of ‘Defending the French’ with considerable stress on family services and values. However, their conception of the French is greatly limited to who they wish to protect. In many instances, Jews and Muslims are excluded from the wider societal protections and are subject to systematic and persistent discrimination that carries the message: you are not welcome here.
In preparation of the current elections, many French people are speaking of Marine Le Pen. This photo of Marine Le Pen’s poster was posted on the University of Strasbourg Facebook page. She is pictured here with her slogans « au nom du peuple » meaning “In the name of the People and at the top « Remettre La France en Ordre » meaning “Put France back in Order.” This phrase invokes the FN’s interest in returning to the “essential” France. Her slogan “In the name of the people,” appeals to her populist agenda. She claims to be one of the French masses, speaking for the rest of the people. However, when she figures these masses, she excludes all who are not within her white, and Christian, French image. She is pictured with a drawn-on Hitler mustache and a swastika on her forehead. The sentiments of the college students who posted this picture on the Facebook page were based in their feelings that her supremacist and fascist actions and ideals mimicked those of Hitler.
As evidenced, the Front National is fixated on structuring France to be a one-way way of living that does not leave room for other “non-French” practices. Their tactics as well as the characteristics of their practices directly mirror that of the French colonial power. The colonial powers instituted structures to cleanse and suppress native religion and culture. Within the colonies, was a constant awareness that the dominating power were the white, usually Christian, French people. These figures, acted in different roles, all with the common goal of instituting their own values for their own benefit. Following many independence wars, the French post-colonial legacy remains deep in the history of the countries they forcibly dominated. However, this legacy does not exist simply outside of the French borders, but also within France. The evidence of this can be focused in the actions of the far-right nationalist political party, Le Front National. This party is, once again, focused on the white- French domination of France and uses the same tactics as were used in its colonies, to suppress minorities and immigrants within the French metropole. They have a focus on restoring France to the “essential France” with a true agenda towards capitalism, closed borders and whiteness. These characteristics of the Front National directly mimic those of French colonists. Marine Le Pen is currently the head of the party, as well as the leading presidential candidate for the French national elections.
Bibliography:
Césaire, Aimé. Discourse on Colonialism. (Monthly Review Press : New York and London 1955)
Kassovitz, Matieu. La Haine (Paris 1995)
Klein, Ezra. What you need to know about Marine Le Pen, France’s far-right presidential candidate. (Facebook.com 2017)
Simmel, Georg. On Individuality and Social Forms. (University of Chicago Press: Chicago 1971)
Marcus, Jonathan. The National Front and French Politics. (NYU Press: New York 1995)
Marysia, Nowak, Branford, Becky. France elections: What makes Marine Le Pen far right? (London: BBC News 2017)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38321401
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