Among Trump supporters’ greatest fears is globalization. Globalization has transformed the economy, food, language, and culture. Despite their attempts, Trump supporters may be unwittingly hastening globalization in one aspect of our lives: politics. While Americans may view this election cycle as bizarre, much of it is standard ops in other places around the world.
Six time zones away, the French presidential election has officially begun. The final vote will be in the spring of 2017. The “primaire a droite,” the center right’s primary, is heading for its first vote on November 20th; meanwhile, the PS (Parti Socialiste, or Socialist Party) primary will be held later, at the beginning of next year. Where French politics differs a bit from our own is in the fact that some of the largest players will not come from Les Republicains, the major right wing party, or the PS, the major left wing party. In fact, the widely predicted winner of the first round of voting is Marine Le Pen, head of the National Front (For the uninitiated: France has two rounds of voting in elections - one with all candidates, the next with the top two from the first). With that being said, Le Pen will almost surely lose in the second round.
The National Front is France’s extreme right party. Emerging in the 1970s, the FN (“Front National,” because you put the adjective after the noun in French) became the premiere party for Eurosceptics, nationalists, protectionists, and those who are anti-immigration. The FN speaks to blue collar workers left behind by globalization. The refugee crisis, which comes amid rampant terrorism across France, has created fuel for the fire, giving the party the most membership it’s ever had. Evidently, what motivates Le Pen voters mirrors what motivates Trump supporters. While Trump’s meteoric rise may appear sudden and unexpected, his style of politics has succeeded all across Europe - yes, in France, but also in Britain (via the Brexit vote), Hungary, Poland, and Germany, among other countries.
The center right party has scrambled to capture some of Le Pen’s allure. Nicolas Sarkozy and Alain Juppe, the two most likely candidates for the Republicans, have both scurried closer to the far right on immigration. Recently, Sarkozy made headlines by declaring that when you become French, your ancestors become the Gauls - and yes, it sounds just as bizarre in French.
Meanwhile, politicians on the left have jumped ship. The Socialist President Hollande, faced with an approval rating below 20%, will likely not have the support he’ll need to run again. Perhaps the strongest candidate for the left is Emmanuel Macron, who left the PS to create his own movement earlier this year, En Marche! (the exclamation point included, perhaps a French take on Jeb!). The foreign press, including The Economist, has been wooed by his youth and dazzling charm. At only 38 years old, Marcon is looking to take aim at his former bosses on the left with a bid from the center.
Politics in France has a developed sense of nation and what it means to be French. The notion of the nation and its values crosses party lines. This summer, politicians from the whole spectrum cheered the ban on “burkinis,” believing that they infringe on “laïcité,” the French notion of secularism. France decries any public display of religion - unlike here, where we admonish public displays of affection. In the spirit of that idea, Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls made headlines by stating that naked breasts represent France better than a burkini.
Back in America, the ideology behind much of the far right’s immigration policy seems to be appropriated from France. Where Marine Le Pen and others believe that mass immigration is distorting what it means to be French, Ann Coulter and the like believe that mass illegal immigration from Mexico is distorting what it means to be American. Ann Coulter in her book, In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!, makes the case that when you go to France, you don’t go for the Kebab shops - you go for the Eiffel tower, the cafés, and French people. Only in America, she writes, is it frowned upon to want to preserve your culture. The Alt-right is another manifestation of this thought: that preserving national identity is an end unto itself. So, then, the most ironic bit of all is that anti-globalism itself is globalizing.
Among Trump supporters’ greatest fears is globalization. Globalization has transformed the economy, food, language, and culture. Despite their attempts, Trump supporters may be unwittingly hastening globalization in one aspect of our lives: politics. While Americans may view this election cycle as bizarre, much of it is standard ops in other places around the world.
Six time zones away, the French presidential election has officially begun. The final vote will be in the spring of 2017. The “primaire a droite,” the center right’s primary, is heading for its first vote on November 20th; meanwhile, the PS (Parti Socialiste, or Socialist Party) primary will be held later, at the beginning of next year. Where French politics differs a bit from our own is in the fact that some of the largest players will not come from Les Republicains, the major right wing party, or the PS, the major left wing party. In fact, the widely predicted winner of the first round of voting is Marine Le Pen, head of the National Front (For the uninitiated: France has two rounds of voting in elections - one with all candidates, the next with the top two from the first). With that being said, Le Pen will almost surely lose in the second round.
The National Front is France’s extreme right party. Emerging in the 1970s, the FN (“Front National,” because you put the adjective after the noun in French) became the premiere party for Eurosceptics, nationalists, protectionists, and those who are anti-immigration. The FN speaks to blue collar workers left behind by globalization. The refugee crisis, which comes amid rampant terrorism across France, has created fuel for the fire, giving the party the most membership it’s ever had. Evidently, what motivates Le Pen voters mirrors what motivates Trump supporters. While Trump’s meteoric rise may appear sudden and unexpected, his style of politics has succeeded all across Europe - yes, in France, but also in Britain (via the Brexit vote), Hungary, Poland, and Germany, among other countries.
The center right party has scrambled to capture some of Le Pen’s allure. Nicolas Sarkozy and Alain Juppe, the two most likely candidates for the Republicans, have both scurried closer to the far right on immigration. Recently, Sarkozy made headlines by declaring that when you become French, your ancestors become the Gauls - and yes, it sounds just as bizarre in French.
Meanwhile, politicians on the left have jumped ship. The Socialist President Hollande, faced with an approval rating below 20%, will likely not have the support he’ll need to run again. Perhaps the strongest candidate for the left is Emmanuel Macron, who left the PS to create his own movement earlier this year, En Marche! (the exclamation point included, perhaps a French take on Jeb!). The foreign press, including The Economist, has been wooed by his youth and dazzling charm. At only 38 years old, Marcon is looking to take aim at his former bosses on the left with a bid from the center.
Politics in France has a developed sense of nation and what it means to be French. The notion of the nation and its values crosses party lines. This summer, politicians from the whole spectrum cheered the ban on “burkinis,” believing that they infringe on “laïcité,” the French notion of secularism. France decries any public display of religion - unlike here, where we admonish public displays of affection. In the spirit of that idea, Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls made headlines by stating that naked breasts represent France better than a burkini.
Back in America, the ideology behind much of the far right’s immigration policy seems to be appropriated from France. Where Marine Le Pen and others believe that mass immigration is distorting what it means to be French, Ann Coulter and the like believe that mass illegal immigration from Mexico is distorting what it means to be American. Ann Coulter in her book, In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!, makes the case that when you go to France, you don’t go for the Kebab shops - you go for the Eiffel tower, the cafés, and French people. Only in America, she writes, is it frowned upon to want to preserve your culture. The Alt-right is another manifestation of this thought: that preserving national identity is an end unto itself. So, then, the most ironic bit of all is that anti-globalism itself is globalizing.
