On the morning of July 8th, many people in France woke up with the feeling of having narrowly avoided a catastrophe, following weeks spent anxiously wondering what life would be like under a government led by far-right Rassemblement National party chairman Jordan Bardella. Those fears were swept away by the surprise victory of the Nouveau Front Populaire, the broad leftwing alliance that had been hurriedly formed after Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve parliament, and which was dynamized by a vast mobilisation beyond party structures alone.
But what now? Many know that the relatively happy conclusion of the parliamentary elections is but a respite. The Rassemblement National (RN) has continued to grow, both in the urns and in minds. Can that infernal machine be blocked, and what might the future hold and how can one prepare for it?
Over recent years, authoritarian nationalist, post-fascist and rightwing populist governments have arrived in power around the world: the US experienced four years of the presidency of Donald Trump, between 2017 and 2021, with his return to power in elections later this year a possibility; far-right former military officer Jair Bolsonaro was president of Brazil between 2019 and 2022. In Argentina, Javier Milei has embarked on a rightwing libertarian counter-revolution since his election as president at the end of last year.
In Europe, the populist autocrat Viktor Orbán has been gnawing at constitutional rights in Hungary since his election as prime minister there in 2010, while post-fascist Giorgia Meloni was appointed as Italian prime minister in October 2022. In parliamentary elections in Poland last year the country emerged from eight years of rule by the rightwing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party. While of course each of these regimes have particular characteristics, those who faced up to them, and others who still do, have often common lessons to share.
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Mediapart sought those lessons from individuals of diverse backgrounds in the countries listed above, and specifically what advice they had for people in France in face of the looming and very real threat of a future far-right government. Several of them contributed their thoughts in writing, and which were published on Mediapart’s French pages in a series that can be found here.
Things can go very badly wrong. Look at us.
One firm piece of advice is to remain vigilant and not be blinded by the relative victory of the progressist camp, for the danger is that the RN will see its support strengthen still further in France. “The architects of the far-right are Gramscians, and they display a unity and discipline that is particularly missing on the Left”, which is prone to “internal quarrels”, American essayist (and US editor for the London Review of Books) Adam Shatz told Mediapart. “What you will do next year, or in three years’ time is crucial,” he insisted, referring to the presidential elections in France next due in 2027, when parliamentary elections would automatically follow. “Things can go very badly wrong. Look at us.”
The two-round parliamentary elections in France concluded last weekend without any one party or political alliance gaining an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the lower, more powerful house. To avoid the legislative paralysis this could cause, some have argued for the formation of a government of technocrats, or one made up of a coalition of members from what has been dubbed the “central blocs” in the new parliament. But the Italian journalist and writer Roberto Saviano warned that such solutions could prove to be a “springboard” for the RN, and that it was precisely in those very circumstances that Giorgia Meloni came to power in Italy.
Her party, Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), “had been alone in opposition to the last technical government, the Draghi government,” Saviano underlined, “showing itself to be ‘different’ to all the other political forces which, if one is to believe Meloni’s supporters, were ready to put aside the popular will in order to ensure themselves government posts”.
What can be done in face of the threat of the RN rapidly arriving in power? Shatz advises leftwing parties and activists must make sure they do not tear themselves apart, and that they learn to distinguish between who are their enemies and who are their political opponents, in order to concentrate their force against the former. For society in general, argues Saviano, it is important not to place the lid on a furiously bubbling pan, and that instead of trying to “sterilise extremist urges” it is best “to find the antibodies”.
They will begin by repressing the media, then the Constitutional Council, then the courts and prosecutors.
But which antibodies? In Slovakia, where the pro-Kremlin far-right entered government in 2023, the journalists at the independent daily Denník-N argue for what they consider to be a simple but essential remedy, namely to educate people about the journalistic media and social media platforms. “Jordan Bardella is, so to speak, the product of social media and the topics people share on social media,” observed Vladimír Šnídl, a journalist with the daily which visits schools, libraries, conferences, as well as addressing its readers directly, on the subject of the spreading of rumours and propaganda, and also the use of algorithms.
For those who have come up against authoritarian nationalism in their own country, it is vital that an independent press be protected. It took just a few months for the populist PiS party in Poland to complete a “purge” of public media, said Polish reporter and investigative journalist Wojciech Cieśla. The abuse of power would have been “easier still” without the existence of an independent press funded by its readers, he argued.
Cieśla says that in France, people must ensure that they are “aware of the scenario that looms if the far-right take power”, warning: “They will begin by repressing the media, then the Constitutional Council, then the courts and prosecutors. They will dismantle the counterpowers, the fuse boxes of democracy. They know that once they will have ‘pacified’ them, the European Union won’t do anything.”
Preparing for the worst
Because of the threat to the institutions that represent counterpowers, the only enduring solution is “to organise” ourselves, argues US political activist Lisa Fithian. She has been involved in a wide number of movements since the late 1970s, including anti-racism, against the US-led war in Iraq, for Occupy Wall Street, and Extinction Rebellion, and more recently she was involved in the student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Find people you can trust, involve your neighbours, set up systems of mutual aid, community defence and preparation for catastrophes,” advised Fithian in the event the far-right gets close to reaching power in France. “All these things are connected. Think in terms of networks and not organisation. We must be dynamic, flexible and active.” In sum, create connections and networks which, in face of the catastrophe and the risk of paralysis, represent resources; get to know each other, know the lie of the land, and prepare for the worst. “That could mean mapping your neighbourhoods, to know who is where, who has what skills, who is the most vulnerable” because of their age or identity, said Fithian.
From the Netherlands, where the far-right came first in parliamentary elections last November, the anti-racist activist Abdou Menebhi agrees. “Go and demonstrate, or in any case look for connections, whether that be in neighbourhood committees or in other pacifist actions,” he advised, adding “try to involve those around you”, even people who are not politically active or involved in associations.
Abdou Menebhi is relatively optimistic about the future of his country, believing the far-right-led government “will not last”. But unfortunately, the warnings from some in Latin America are that once having experienced power, the far-right spreads ideas and violence that can continue to poison society for years, even decades.
A lasting gangrene
“The work of symbolic and ethical reconstruction of a country is much harder to carry out than its destruction through ignorance and lies,” observed the Brazilian actor and director Marcio Abreu.
Marina Franco, a historian and principal researcher with Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), sees that as already happening in her country since Javier Milei won the presidency late last year. “I know that the government of Javier Milei has a limited time – the time of his mandate,” she said. “But the societal and political changes that brought him to power, and those the government is putting in place, will remain for a long time.” She spoke of her “profound anxiety” over the threats to “the rights of women, science, the State” as well as “the right of the poorest to exist”.
For Marcio Abreu, “Things are lost for ever, lives for example”, and he warned: “Don’t be duped. A fascist government like the one we recently had in Brazil doesn’t only kill dreams, which would be pretty serious, it also kills people.”
As a gay man, he had personal experience of the violence. “I have always been the target of prejudice and violence,” he said. “But in this context, this violence was more powerful and more obvious, practically inevitable. To get over the traumatisms, the wounds and the ruin caused by this dark period will need time.” He underlined the importance of never giving up. “What made us change the probable course of history and rid ourselves of this government, is the awareness that every one of our acts makes a difference. Each day is one for fighting against tragedy.”
From Rio de Janeiro came another voice that shares his view. Marinete Da Silva is the mother of Marielle Franco, a human rights activist and municipal councillor in the city who was murdered in March 2018. Marinete Da Silva said that during the years Bolsonaro was in power, Brazil experienced the worst. “The experience of the far-right is the worst of anything,” she insisted. “Thank god, we had the force to fight. To all those who fight, I address my solidarity.”
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- The original French version of this article can be found here.
English version by Graham Tearse