Contention and Countermobilization: Comparative Ethnographies of Lega Nord and Rassemblement National in Local Governance

The transnational growth of populist radical-right parties gives rise to urgent scientific and public concerns. Social science is just beginning to understand how these parties are situated territorially and how they can mobilize localism, identity, and community attachments to build to political consensus on the right. These far right parties often cause unprecedented levels of social and political polarization and the countermobilization of progressive actors of civil society. On the other hand, they sometimes win elections and much govern. This study explores these issues by focusing on two major Western European right-wing parties: the Lega and Rassemblement National. The data come from comparative ethnographic studies of two small-medium towns administrated by these parties. This study employs a methodological mix of immersion and comparison to answer the following questions: How do the parties manage their new position once in power? What are the main conflicts generated by responsibilities of local governance? Which social groups and repertoires of action are mobilized by the higher levels of contention their success causes? This study presents a fine-grained analysis of right-wing politics in local governance, and contributes to our understanding of community and conflict in the context of how the far right deals with practical issues of governance.