French Election: The Decline Of The Far Right and The Marginality Of The Left
In 2017 Emmanuel Macron beat Marine Le Pen in the presidential elections. Macron just beat Le Pen once again in the 2022 elections, and handily so. Like last time this year's elections have gotten eyes on the far-right. Le Pen's party, National Rally, is a far-right, anti-immigrant, conservative party of the type of politics we've seen in North America and Europe since 2016. Candidate Eric Zemmour split the far-right vote with Le Pen, running a campaign even to her right, arguing the white nationalist conspiracy that Muslim and African migrants are replacing white Christian French nationals. As such many saw this election as another indication of the far-right drift in global politics. However, I see it as part of a trend in the decline of the far-right globally. In 2016 we all bore witness to a phenomena dubbed "global Trumpism". Candidates and parties around the world sprang up in electoral politics which scapegoated minorities, particularly migrants and refu...