Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Published in:
Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

2017 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

5. The FN Membership Under Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marine Le Pen

Author : Daniel Stockemer

Published in: The Front National in France

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

Based on an in-depth analysis of semi-structured interviews with nearly four dozens FN members in 2013, this chapter, highlights that the FN is no longer a party of old traditional right-wing men, members with a decidedly extreme right-wing background and family socialisation, or the losers of modernization, low educated individuals, who cannot cope with the problems of modernization any more. To the contrary, the FN under Marine Le Pen could mobilize and recruit in its ranks and files individuals of all ages, social classes and backgrounds. Marine Le Pen finds followers among workers, the educated, disgruntled members of the moderate right, individuals, who have had negative experiences with immigrants, and members of the French society, who have become more conservative or right-wing over their lives. All these groups form a community in the FN, a community that is rather close. However, this community is still characterized by a sizable number of activists, who, being discriminated against in society, prefer to keep their engagement secret and who continue to face some societal discrimination. This latter point highlights that despite all of Marine Le Pen’s efforts to make the FN a party like others, the party is still not 100 % there, yet.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
previous chapter The FN’s Leadership and Elites Under Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marine Le Pen
next chapter The FN Voters Under Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marine Le Pen
Footnotes
1
Some of the departmental secretaries in the Paris region were a little wary because a journalist had infiltrated a local chapter less than one year before I conducted my field research. She wrote a book about her experience in the FN, which made some FN members angry.
 
2
I also asked the departmental secretaries about the composition of local FN members to obtain some more general information on the party’s membership.
 
3
The FN chapters were very keen to invite me to official events such as speaker series and information stands aiming to portray an “authentic” image of the party.
 
4
Geographically, I covered various parts of France. I visited local areas where the FN has been very strong both in terms of electoral performance and in terms of membership (such as Rhône Alps and Lorraine), as well as chapters in regions where the FN is electorally weak and has relatively low membership (such as Pays de Loire and Brittany).
 
5
In terms of age, I interviewed individuals between 19 and 69. In terms of engagement level, I talked to activists who are members on paper and pay their dues but are otherwise not active and to very engaged individuals who spend more than 30 hours per week working for their cause.
 
6
The interactions, experiences, and contacts that I had with many of the FN members were quite pleasant. For the most part, they respected that I had different political views, opinions, and goals and did not try to convince me that their world view is superior to mine. I tried to be very open about my own political beliefs, and almost to a person the FN activists appreciated this frankness. In fact, except for two encounters, in which I was insulted because I acknowledged supporting gay marriage and voiced my support for the European Union, respectively, the FN members were very courteous and respectful towards me and my beliefs and values.
 
7
Similarly, Maude describes her political socialization as follows: I became politically socialized in 2002, when Jean-Marie Le Pen advanced to the second round in the presidential elections. The college professors asked their students, including me, to go to the street to protest against Le Pen. The whole system of national education was against him. I found this incorrect; he advanced fairly to the second round and no public institution should show this kind of bias. Even worse, the demonstration slogans were F like Fascist and N like Nazi, slogans that had nothing to do with the reality. Because of this bias, I became very interested in the FN and finally joined in 2007 at the age of 19.
 
8
Generally, these members have a very poor opinion of Chirac. As Caroline said, “He first was a humanist, than became a politician along the lines of de Gaulle, but then with time and certainly when in power became radical left” (Interview 16).
 
9
Almost all of my interviewees seem to have developed an emotional connection with Marine Le Pen, as evidenced by the fact that they call her by her first name.
 
10
This feature is quite astonishing given that the FN has a very hierarchical structure modelled after communist parties.
 
11
However following Marine Le Pen’s victory in 2011, existing local chapters have attracted more members and new chapters have spread. On the departmental level, the FN has also professionalized. Many departmental branches now have a headquarters with meeting rooms, office spaces, and infrastructure such as computers, faxes, and telephones. However, these headquarters are still run by activists. None of the departmental offices has any paid staff.
 
Literature
Adler, Patricia A., and Peter Adler. 1987. Membership roles in field research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.CrossRef
Adorno, Theodore W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, R. Nevitt Sanford, Betty Aron, Maria Hertz Levinson, and William Morrow. 1950. The authoritarian personality. New York: Harper and Row.
Aminzade, Ronald. 1993. Class analysis, politics, and French labor history. In Rethinking labor history, ed. Larry Berlanstein, 90–113. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Art, David. 2011. Inside the radical right: The development of anti-immigrant parties in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Birenbaum, Guy. 1992. Le Front National en Politique. Paris: Balland.
Bizeul, Daniel. 2003. Avec ceux du FN. Un sociologue au Front national. Paris: La Découverte.
Crépon, Sylvain. 2006. La nouvelle extrême droite – Enquête sur les jeunes militants du Front National. Paris: L’Harmattan.
———. 2012. Enquête au coeur du nouveau Front national. Paris: Nouveau Monde.CrossRef
Falter, Juergen W. 1983. Arbeitslosigkeit und Nationalsozialismus. Eine empirische Analyse des Beitrags der Massenarbeitslosigkeit zu den Wahlerfolgen der NSDAP 1932 und 1933. Koelner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 3(4): 525–554.
Goodwin, Jeff. 2001. Introduction: Why emotions matter. In Passionate politic: Emotions and social movements, eds. Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper and Francesca Poletta, 1–24. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goodwin, R., P. Costa, and J. Adonu. 2004. Social support and its consequences: ‘Positive’ and ‘deficiency’ values and their implications for support and self-esteem. British Journal of Social Psychology 43: 465–474.CrossRef
Goodwin, Matthew, Robert Ford, and David Cutts. 2012. Extreme right foot soldiers, legacy effects and deprivation: A contextual analysis of the leaked British National Party (BNP) membership list. Party Politics 19(6): 887–906.CrossRef
Guest, Greg, Arwen Bunce, and Laura Johnson. 2006. How many interviews are enough?: An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods 18(1): 59–82.CrossRef
Huntington, Samuel P. 1996. The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Jennings, M. Kent, and Richard Niemi. 1981. Generations in politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRef
Klandermans, Bert. 1986. Psychology and trade union participation: Joining, acting, and quitting. Journal of Occupational Psychology 59(3): 189–204.CrossRef
———. 1997. The social psychology of protest. Cambridge: Blackwell.
———. 2004. The demand and supply of participation: Social psychological correlates of participation in social movements. In The Blackwell companion of social movements, eds. David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule and Hans-Peter Kriesi. Oxford: Blackwell.
———. 2013. Extreme right activists: Recruitment and experiences. In Right wind radicalism today. Perspectives from Europe and the US, eds. Sabine Von Mering and Timothy W. McCarty, 60–84. London: Routedge.
Klandermans, Bert, and Nonna Mayer, eds. 2006. Extreme right activists in Europe: Through the magnifying glass. London: Routledge.
Lafont, Valerie. 2001. Les jeunes militants du Front national: trois modèles d`engagement et de cheminement. Revue Française de Sciences Politique 51(1–2): 175–198.
Lichbach, Mark I. 1994. Rethinking rationality and rebellion: Theories of collective action and problems collective dissent. Rationality and Society 6(1): 8–39.CrossRef
McAdam, Doug. 1982. Political process and the development of black insurgency, 1930–1980. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
———. 1988. Freedom Summer. New York: Oxford University Press.
Mudde, Cas. 2010. The populist radical right: A pathological normalcy. West European Politics 33(6): 1167–1186.CrossRef
Orfali, Brigitta. 1991. L’Adhésion au Front National – De la Minorité active au Mouvement Social. Paris: Kimé.
Payne Stanely, G. 1996. A history of fascism 1914–1945. London: Routledge.
Van Stekelenburg, Jacqueline, and Bert Klandermans. 2007. Individuals in movements: A social psychology of contention. In Handbook of social movements across disciplines, eds. Bert Klandermans and Conny Roggeband, 157–204. London: Springer.
Von Mering, Sabine, and Timothy W. McCarty. 2013. Right wind radicalism today. Perspectives from Europe and the US. London: Routledge.
Wolnger, Raymond E., and Steven J. Rosenstone. 1980. Who Votes? New Haven: Yale University Press.
Metadata
Title
The FN Membership Under Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marine Le Pen
Author
Daniel Stockemer
Copyright Year
2017
Book
The Front National in France

Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49639-9

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-49640-5

Copyright Year: 2017

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49640-5_5