Inequality as a contextual factor of far-right voting in France

Inequality is probably one of the least well-known contextual factors of the vote for the French far-right party 'Front national'. There is however empirical evidence of a strong statistical correlation between income inequalities and the vote for the FN (Gombin, 2014). The underlying mechanisms and processes are, however, much less understood, at least in the French case. This paper endeavours to explore a few theroretical explanations to the link between inequalites and to test them empirically. For this purpose, I rely on both ecological (election returns, census data, economic data) and individual (national or international surveys, such as the CEVIPOF's annual trust barometer or the European Social Survey) data, and multilevel modeling, in order to be able to explore the specific contextual and relational nature of inequalities. References Gombin, Joël. ‘Contextualiser sans faire de l’espace un facteur autonome. La modélisation multiniveau comme lieu de rencontre entre sociologie et géographie électorales.’ L’Espace Politique, no. 23 (4 July 2014). doi:10.4000/espacepolitique.3066.