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A ‘New’ National Front? Gender, Religion, Secularism and the French Populist Radical Right

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Gender and Far Right Politics in Europe

Part of the book series: Gender and Politics ((GAP))

Abstract

In 2011, Marine Le Pen succeeded her father as leader of the French National Front party. With the declared objective of transforming the NF into a large mainstream party with a vocation to govern, she engaged in an enterprise of ‘modernisation’ of the party’s public image. This chapter explores the relationship among gender, religion, secularism and the recent ideological developments in this party, by locating them in the specifics of the French political and cultural context. Firstly, the chapter sets the scene of Marine Le Pen’s ‘de-demonisation’ strategy, by presenting the heated and highly gendered public debates on multiculturalism, religion and secularism which have taken place in France in the past decades. Secondly, the chapter explores the gendered dimension of the NF ideology and its transformation. The conclusion points to changes and continuities which can be observed in the NF ideology in relation to women and gender.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Francesca Scrinzi

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  1. Francesca Scrinzi
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Correspondence to Francesca Scrinzi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt, Germany

    Michaela Köttig

  2. Technische Hochschule Nuremberg, Nuremberg, Germany

    Renate Bitzan

  3. Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

    Andrea Petö

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Scrinzi, F. (2017). A ‘New’ National Front? Gender, Religion, Secularism and the French Populist Radical Right. In: Köttig, M., Bitzan, R., Petö, A. (eds) Gender and Far Right Politics in Europe. Gender and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43533-6_9

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