'Make Europe Great Again': Transnational Diffusion of a Far-Right Social Movement

This paper is at the intersection of two panels of the section, that on “social movements of the extreme right” and that on “diffusion of social movements”, and focuses on the French identitarian movement. From its foundation in 2002, the French identitarian activists tried to spread their movement, to unite around their discourses and to initiate an “European Identitarian movement”. Despite links with certain groups or political parties in several countries (Belgium, Italy, Portugal), this strategy has been a failure for ten years. Yet, from 2012 and the launch of Génération Identitaire, they gradually managed to spread out in various European countries and established themselves there on a lasting basis (eg. Austria, Germany, Italy,…). Some of these antennas have gained the attention of academics but none of the previous research investigate the mechanisms at play in this diffusion. How did the movement manage to spread after years of failure? What mechanisms then allow its diffusion? I will present the mechanisms by which the French Identitarians managed to diffuse their "brand" in Europe. I will show that it follows traditional channels of diffusion, consistent with that identified within the literature on social movements’ diffusion (Katz 1968; McAdam Ruch 1993; Tarrow 2005, 2010; Givan Roberts Soule 2010; Chabot 2010), a literature that is rather scarce when coming to far-right movements (Van Hauwaert 2013). I will finally argue that it enlightens a new mechanism: “reversed coercion”. This paper intends to answer these questions through the results of my ongoing PhD research on the French Identitarian movement (2002-2018). I will use data gathered during an extensive field work: over 40 interviews with identitarian activists all across France; interviews with European activists and leaders via e-mail; ethnological observations, during demonstrations and informal meetings; analysis of the movements’ archives (books, magazines, websites, internal documents, etc.). CHABOT S., « Dialogue matters: beyond the transmission model of transnational diffusion between social movements » in : Givan, Roberts, Soule (éds.), The diffusion of social movements. Actors, mechanisms and political effects, Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 99-124. GIVAN, ROBERTS, SOULE, « Introduction. The dimensions of diffusion » in : Givan, Roberts, Soule (éds.), The diffusion of social movements. Actors, mechanisms and political effects, Cambridge University Press, 2010. KATZ E., « Diffusion (interpersonal influence) », in : Shils, D.L. (Ed.), International encyclopaedia of the social sciences, Macmillan, London, 1968. McADAM D., RUCHT D., « The cross national diffusion of movement ideas », The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 528, Citizens, Protest, and Democracy, Sage Publications, July 1993. TARROW S., « Dynamics of diffusion », in : Givan, Roberts, Soule (éds.), The diffusion of social movements. Actors, mechanisms and political effects, Cambridge University Press, 2010. TARROW S., The new transnational activism, Cambridge university Press, 2005. VAN HAUWAERT S., Trans-national diffusion patterns between West European far right parties: Towards a systematic framework of analysis, Thèse en science politique soutenue à Science Po Paris, sous la direction de Pascal Perrineau, 2013.